


Well, that failed spectacularly. But Second time's the charm, right?

by Hello_Im_not_a_possum



Series: _en_y And The Dreemurr Team [2]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Becoming an ink monster is STILL not fun, Cartoon Physics, Censored Swearing, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Guess who's remembering that the time is looping?, It turns out there ARE consequences for dying, It's everybody's favorite dad!, Memory Loss, Narrator Chara (Undertale), Oops, POV Alternating, Power of Friendship, Redemption, Swearing, There May or May Not Be More Crack Than Intended, Time Loop, Transformation, Video Game Mechanics, Weird Biology, Weird Plot Shit, Who knew?, as a treat, this fic can have a little crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25578415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hello_Im_not_a_possum/pseuds/Hello_Im_not_a_possum
Summary: While Henry, Kris, and Frisk didn't exactly save the day how they wanted to last time they were thrown into an inky cursed studio, they do have some tricks up their sleeves this time! But Joey's not willing to make it THAT easy for our heroes...
Series: _en_y And The Dreemurr Team [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659073
Comments: 95
Kudos: 64





	1. Welcome (back) to the studio Hen- Wait... didn't I use this title before?

Joey's heart was filled with rage and fear as it pounded against his rib cage. He went through all the trouble of trying to keep them safe, making sure that the story stays on track, making sure the actors were punished badly enough to not step out of line _again_ , and how was his hard work rewarded? With a chair to the face and no new red ink to show for it!?

The nerve of those nuisances! Didn't they know that they missed out on a chance to be a part of a family?! He slammed his fist against the wooden door one last time before taking a deep breath and letting it out.

He stared at the door to The Ink Demon's realm in sinking horror and a dawning realization; as the new batch of red ink escaped his clutches again, one of the two hellions said "That's for Grant Cohen" before running away. On one hand, at least he now knows not to bother trying to protect the little delinquents this time, if they were going into the story again, then they would deal with the consequences of being child actors instead of just audience members on stage.

On the other hand: how did it KNOW about Grant? He knew that those brats must've swallowed at least a fistful of ink or two by now, one of them was even submerged in Sammy's ink for hours! He knew that it must've infected them enough for the end to erase their memories but instead, they knew about Grant, ...What else did they know about the studio?

The old animator thought long and hard about what he should do for his next move. Not wanting to write an entirely new plot for them, he'd just let the show run the same way, he'd let them be a little bit more flexible on the dialogue, he'd throw the occasional wrench or two to keep 'em on their toes while letting the actors ruin themselves. And when their plan to do whatever it was would inevitably fail, he would simply smile and say "I told you so" as he would take back the reigns without further issue. Then the show could continue as it was supposed to go until Henry would finally push through and give the two of them that happy ending ~~he~~ they wanted.

Speaking of such, he already knew how he'd implement Kris and Frisk into future loops of the story. Sammy clearly likes the two of them, so turning them into either Lost ones or searchers and nestling them in with the rest of his little cult would work perfectly for the story. Although, he was leaning towards making them searchers so it wouldn't be clear that they were kids and not adults.

"He'd find them broken and hopeless and they'd be welcomed in to his little jamboree quickly, just like Linda was."

Joey smiled to himself at the thought of Henry unknowingly killing his own grandchildren just like how he had killed Linda in countless loops before.

Although the storyboard problem was fixed, he still had a lot of work left to do and an audience to gather. If Kris and Frisk didn't want to stay then it would be just fine with him, he'd just call those friends in Kris's phone contacts.

"Hello Susie, sorry that I hang up on you so suddenly back there. I had a little problem that I had to take care of first-"

"IT HAD _BETTER_ BE A LIFE-OR-DEATH PROBLEM OLD MAN!"

"Hey! Hey! just stay calm for me, okay? Now that that's over and dealt with, I want to talk to you about your friend Kris and a little project of mine that I know you and the rest of your friends would love to see... By chance, do you see a door that wasn't there before?"

* * *

Henry didn't know what he expected when he looked through the seeing tool in his hand when he walked into the studio. But when he saw **'TURN BACK', 'I'M SORRY BUDDY', ' ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~ ~~llll~~...',** **'DON'T TURN ON THE MACHINE'** and a giant arrow pointing towards the door, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Well, those don't look good."

He knew what he had gone through. He almost couldn't believe that the journey he had gone through had been real and yet, here he was with the tool in his hand as proof of the adventure. It all felt like just some crazy dream, he felt as if the adventure he just had (and apparently, had done time and time again) was nothing more then a partly faded figment of his imagination.

*You ask Henry what's wrong.

"I don't know for sure yet but think that I might be the one who's writing on these walls... and if I am, then this isn't the first time I've been through this."

*You ask Henry what should you and Kris do.

"I think Joey's still on the other side of that door, So I guess we'll look for another exit and press on."

As the three looked around for an exit and or any unlocked doors, Kris found a door that appeared to have someone behind it. There was the sound of music being played as well as the sound of someone quickly writing on paper in that little room. Trying the door's handle, however revealed that although someone was inside it, it was locked.

"Hey, Pal" Kris knocked on the door. "We need to get to the Music Department, know any ways to get there?" They didn't get an answer. "Hello?" They knocked again. "Can you hear me?" Still no answer. "Okay then, have fun in there I guess."

A few minutes later, Kris passed by the locked closet again, this time they heard the light switch flick off as they approached. They tried the door again out of curiosity and the door opened, but nobody was inside. "Huh..." They took the record underneath the desk and looked at the piece of paper on top of it, the note was a weird little drabble that didn't make a lot of sense;

 **'Your bless** ** _I_** **ngs upon my floc** ** _K_** **are** **_N_** **ever ending, y** ** _O_** **ur po** ** _W_** **er and wit are outmatc** ** _HE_** **d. But** _**WILL** _ **you** **_BETRAY_** **yourself in your hubris as you _ME_** **nd you and your creator's _B_ ond? do not worry, I will stay with you _U_ n _T_ il _I CAN'T_ be useful. _L_ _E_ st I forget his d _A_ ngerous _VE_ nom, _OR_ fall to _H_ is sir _E_ n song, let me have your _WILL_ power my lord, and I will _KILL_ on your behalf, _M_ a _Y_ your r _E_ ig _N_ on us mor _T_ als, and _I_ will _R_ _E_ ap any seeds you sow. I in _V_ oke you, _I_ nk Demon, to save us from this i _LL_ ness, _A_ n _GE_ ls have no trustworthiness, Gods have abandoned us. Only you can set us free.'**

"...I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Sammy was here a few seconds ago..."

\---

*You took the power cell.

*You found a chest. Open it?

❤Yes.

*You took the power cell.

*You took the gear.

*You put the power cells into the generator.

*You flipped the switch.

*The chains move and a giant machine rises out of the shadowy abyss. *You now understand why the ink machine seemed to be going lower and lower every time you saw it.

\---

Just like Alice had said when she handed him the seeing tool, there really were messages everywhere. However, almost all of the ones he saw were either ominous, bitter, or disheartening.

'Joey Drew Studios' was changed to "Joey Drew **NOTHING** ", **'HE WAS BORN _HERE_ '** was written on his desk, **'DEATH IN EVERY DIRECTION'** was written over the studio's directions, **'NOT ALL'** was added to **DREAMS COME TRUE, 'THERE NEVER WAS A CHOICE' **was written on the floor of the machine's balcony, **'Can I get a little privacy?'** was written in that terrible bathroom, and if he was being honest with himself, it made him chuckle a little bit. It was good to see that in spite of being in a state of unfathomable hopelessness, he still had his sense of humor.

 **'LISTENING AND ALWAYS WATCHING' **was written over the music note in Sammy's 'office', **'Don't be afraid'** was written on the wall adjacent to the ink machine's power room, **'She's heartless'** was by the Boris corpse. Oh god, the first corpse. It didn't matter how many times he's seen this mutilated animal like this, it still tugged on his heartstrings to see him like this.

"You didn't deserve this." He told the corpse. "I know I don't know who you really are, but I know you didn't deserve what he did to you."

\---

"-I Think he's lost his mind, but, hey, he writes the checks. But I'll tell ya what of one more of those pipes burst, I'm outta here!"

"Well, since we've never seen or heard you here I think you did actually get outta- _SON OF A BITCH!_ "

The cutout jumped out of the closet at Kris with a sharp noise accompanying it, after they composed themself, they took a closer look at it.

"That's an ...interesting pair of eyes you have... 'Wandering is a terrible sin', huh? Considering the events that went down here, I'm pretty sure plagiarism is worse."

The cutout continued to stare at them with pin-prick size unblinking eyes, Kris looked at the cutout through the mask but didn't see a soul in there. The Tape recorder on the table next to them on the other hand...

\---

*You have placed the objects you have gathered on their respective pedestals and now you just have to wait for Kris and Henry to meet you in the power room.

*...

*Call the Ink Demon?

❤Yes.

*Ring *Ring... *Click*

**" _HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THERE FRISK!🎶_ Glad to see that you not only came back so soon, but you stayed in one piece too! (...Normally, other audience members aren't as lucky as you and Kris, they don't survive in 'the splash zone' too often...) So this question might sound kinda weird but can you fill me in on what the !%@# happened during the end? It always seems like no matter how hard I try, or how many times I go through it, I have absolutely no memory of how the story ends, or the final battle at all! I'd ask Henry, but he never remembers either!"**

❤You turned into a giant feral beast and then you tried to kill us all but we stopped you but what we did also destroyed the rest of the world in the process.

 **"Huh. 'Turned into a giant feral beast'... that sounds like it could've been either really cool or really** **_lame_** **with absolutely no in-between."**

❤You looked adorable!

**"...okay, but was I _cool_?"**

❤Hell yeah you were.

**"Nice. So do you wanna hear about the weird $#*! Sammy's been doing ever since this loop started up or do you wanna see it yourself no spoilers?"**

❤...Spoil me but only a little bit.

**"Okay, so he found this sketchbook-thing in his village..."**

\---

As Henry walked back into the ink machine's main power room to see the two Dreemurrs waiting for him with the six objects already on their respective pedestals and the ink pressure high enough for the machine's liking.

"You two really know how to get things done quickly."

"Maybe if we speed through this fast enough, we'll be able to get the pump switch in Sammy's office flipped before he tries to sacrifice anybody."

*You remind Kris that he didn't try to sacrifice either of them so it could be that we just shouldn't hurt the searchers in the music department.

"I'm pretty sure Joey wants to keep his linear story on the same plot it always had."

"So to keep us from fucking up the script, Sammy's gonna try to sacrifice _everybody_ before getting attacked by Inky." Kris nodded in understanding "Got it."

"Yep, are you two ready for me to flip the switch?"

*Knowing that as a team, you can and will break the loop... *Fills you with DETERMINATION.

"Let's fucking do this shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the gang know what they're doing this time (Kinda), this fic may be shorter than the first one.


	2. The group: Send me an Angel, the nicest angel you have. Susie: *Maniacal laughter*

"Alright" Henry stated as he put his hand on the switch. "When we meet our good friend the ink demon, get ready to run."

Most of the lights in the building were shut off the second the switch was pulled, leaving the trio in dark as they went over to the now boarded-up ink machine.

The demon knocked the old animator to the floor and as soon as the Dreemurrs pulled him back up, the chase began; The studio was crashing down around the running team, Frisk tripped and Henry scooped them up like a football before they hit the floor and continued running, ink flooded and sprayed all over the place, as they followed the one safe path amidst all the destruction, when they reached the "Exit" they hesitated.

Instead of being slightly open and having bright light pour into the studio as a false ray of hope, the door was still closed off, with audible banging heard on the other side. 

As if the same train of thought took off in all three of their heads, they figured that Joey would surely try to catch the two if they charged for the door, it was his script and if he wanted to snatch them away and leave Henry to fall to his doom, he wouldn't think twice about it.

"Well now what?" Kris vocalized the trio's thoughts. "We're all probably thinking the same thing: 'if we charge for the door, Joey's gonna grab us'."

"And we can't go back." Henry added. "Even if we choose dealing with the demon over dealing with Joey, there's too much ink for us to go anywhere."

*Call the Ink Demon?

❤Yes.

*You called the Ink Demon.

**"Wait, you three are stuck this early on? _Really?!_ "**

❤Yes, because Joey's a bitch.

**"Ah. Afraid he'll lock you into the guest room? Well, I can't do $#*! but your friend back there can throw a mean punch! And kick, and elbow, and headbutt, and bites REALLY hard... I'm not jealous of Joey for getting in _that_ scuffle! We might be demons but we can still feel pain 'n stuff you know?"**

❤'We'?

**"Me and my old man back there. Didya think that jack@$$ Drew would still be human after all these years, all that ink, and all this magical bull$#!*?"**

❤'Friend'?

**"Five, four, three, two..."**

Before the demon could say "One", the door burst open and a giant purple lizard monster wielding a ripped off metal bed leg as a weapon bolted inside the studio and fell as the floorboards broke underneath her feet. While nobody could bring it up as everything felt like it was all happening at once, due to the fact he was watching it instead of experiencing it, he noticed that the floorboards she fell down looked suspiciously like a trap door. (One that genuinely _did_ break, but still...)

As Kris instantly recognized who she was, they reached out for her and grabbed her bed leg, doing this made them fall too and Henry and Frisk reached out to grab them to pull them back up.

The two succeeded in grabbing them, at the expense of falling down below themselves.

\-----

The four's fall was cushioned by the giant pool of ink waiting for them below. Henry took the brief pause to glance around the room with the seeing tool, which revealed the phrase **'I always fall'** with a picture of a falling stick figure incorporated into it. He put the tool away.

"Ow! Fuck this place..."

"Same."

"Wait a minute... Kris?!" Her attention towards her formerly missing friend was broken for a moment as Frisk broke the ink's surface tension. "And Frisk's here too?! You two really were here the whole time?!"

"Yep."

"Thank god... For a moment, I was beginning to think that that sick fuck was just lying to me to-" Susie paused for a second as she remembered that Frisk was in the room too. "...do whatever it was he was planning."

"You three know each other?"

Susie looked at the older man with a confused expression on her face before whispering to Kris.

"Who's the buff guy over there?"

"That's my grandpa."

"Oh." She turned back to the man. "Yeah, we know each other, I'm Susie, Kris and I are friends. Nice to meet you."

She held out her hand for a hand shake which Henry accepted.

"It's nice to meet you too Susie, I'm Henry."

 **"D'aww, a friendly reunion giving our heroes hope in bleak times!"** Frisk's phone spoke as in the madness, they had forgotten to hang up on the Ink Demon. **"Hate to force you guys to wrap it up, but that tape recorder you brought for some god forsaken reason? it fell into the ink. That can't be good for a machine..."**

"Oh shit! Wally!"

"Wally?" Henry and Susie said in unison.

Kris turned the nearby valve to drain the ink, revealing an ink-logged tape recorder among the rubble.

"Yeah, his soul is trapped in a tape recorder."

"How can you tell?" Henry asked, intrigued "It just looks like a normal tape recorder."

"Well, we haven't seen him anywhere in the studio and this tape recorder with Wally's voice feels like it has a soul in it, so I'm just putting two and two together."

*You ask Kris what they plan to do with Wally.

"Yeah, what DO you guys plan to do wit' me?"

Everyone paused and turned to look at the tape recorder, it's play button wasn't pressed, but it's wheels were turning.

"Wait a quick second... I just spoke! No button mashing, no waitin' around for someone to press play only ta leave, none of that at all!" The voice began laugh-crying in relief "Holy mackerel! I-I was beginin' ta think I'd just be nothin' but a prop for the rest of eternity!"

Henry blinked owlishly before addressing the tape.

"Wally? But you made it out alive! I saw your letter!"

"You're close, but ya got no cigar, Yes I got outta dat joint, No I didn't STAY out."

"What happened?"

"Long story short: 'Bendy's 25th anniversary reunion' went south _real_ fast! All I remember about it is dat the place burnt down like a lit match while everybody was still inside, including me. And the next thing I know, I'm in dis haunted nightmare studio and I ain't even human no more! I wouldn't mind too badly that except I could never get used to whatever I became! I've been ova a dozen Borises, a few of those inky monster things that get everybody elses' thoughts hollarin' in their heads, I've been my own freakin' keys, And get this: I've been tape recorders, but half the time, they weren't even MY tape recorders! I've been in Sammy's tapes, Susie's tapes, Tom's tapes... Heck, I've even been in YOUR tapes Henry! I'll tell ya, really helps getta better grip on what's going on in other peoples heads. And sometimes, I've even been the freakin' Ink Demon 'imself! those times were _weird..._ Like, something outta a crazy dream!"

"...Or a nightmare..." Henry added.

"Yeah, I feel ya! If this was a dream that *I* could control... there'd be a _lot_ less ink around here, that's for sure! And maybe a lot more fresh air, a nice warm beach, a baseball court or two, an all-you-can-eat food court... Frick it, what if I made it just rain hot dogs?"

**"Look, I really do like that you like to talk and _all get along so swimmingly_ , but the upstairs studio wants to collapse and there's only so long I can hold this up! mind doing yourselves a favor by getting out of the crash zone?"**

"C'mon guys let's go."

The walk downstairs was mostly Kris and Frisk catching Susie up on what's going on down here; Joey stole them all away with magical bullshit ink, now they can't leave, and everyone is unhappy with this, even Joey himself (maybe).

"Okay, he told Henry that he always pushed him to do the right thing and that he needs to 'push harder', right?"

"Yes."

"So what if the way to get everyone out of here is for him to push Joey into the studio?"

Henry let out an amused snort at the suggestion as he turned the valve. When they went into the "Creator lied to us" room, he noticed it was different. The doorway wasn't boarded up, and unfortunately for the team, there was no ax in sight. Only an "IOU" written on the table.

The hidden message **Joey lied to us.** was Expected, the phrase **Remember, you can blame Joey all you want and you have every right to, but he couldn't do this without Conner licking his boots.** Was not, especially since it was written in normal ink.

"Wait a minute, this isn't right..."

"What is it?"

"The doorway was supposed to be boarded up, and there's usually an ax here, but it's gone now."

"Okay, so it looks like 'the script' changed a little bit, so..?"

"If somebody else is going against Joey's script, that must mean somebody else remembers the loop too."

*You tell the rest of the group that you think it might be Sammy, specifically citing his strong dislike for Thomas Conner and that we're all heading to the music department as we speak.

"That makes sense." Henry chimed in "He seemed a lot more lucid in the last loop, I wouldn't be surprised if it carried over."

"Excluding me, I don't think anyone in this hallway will be surprised if anything happens anymore."

"Fair."

"Dat's weird, the 'dislike' thing, not the 'Sammy's doin' screwy stuff' thing. Back when I worked here, I always kinda figured Sam and Tom would get along swell, or at least they'd like complaining about me an' Joey to- OH! Oh yeah... I can't believe I forgot about the 'Sunday mornin' massacre'..."

"The WHAT?"

The small corridor collapsed, debris had narrowly avoided the heads of the gang as the door to the ritual circle opened. 

"FUCK!" Susie shouted, proving her own point. "Is this place going to fall to pieces on us all the time?!"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Unlike the "Lied to us" room and the hallway with less boards in it, the ritual room still had it's boards bolted up on it.

"I Hate this part" Henry murmured to himself as he started to shake uncontrollably while walking towards the circle, just wanting to get it over with.

Before he passed out, he noticed a few sheets of paper on the circle, he didn't get a good look at them, but he could swear that they were model sheets. But he didn't have the time to think about the papers, the flashes that he's seen over and over again with still no understanding of what they mean flooded his head once more and he went out cold. 

\-----

"Ugh... oh, my head... what happened?"

The three stared wide-eyed at Henry as he picked himself off the floor.

"You turned into a fucking rubberhose cartoon version of the grim reaper."

"Sh!!"

*SUSIE!

"Hoo boy, dis is gonna either be great, or it's gonna doom us all."

"What? it's not like he wouldn't find out just by looking down."

Henry looked down at his hands and sure enough, he saw that he was wearing a long black robe (But thankfully, still had his favorite tie), had four fingered gloves, and pulling his sleeve down revealed that his arms were made of bones instead of flesh.

"Huh."

He took out the tool again to see if there were any hidden messages, it was just the names **Norman** and **Grant** on their respective coffins and the phrase **Say hello to Sammy** on the wall. Underneath that, the phrase **Hello Henry** was written in regular ink.

"...You taking this surprisingly well."

"I've been worse things before I guess." Henry shrugged as he put the tool away.

"Hey, at least in every form you've been in, you could move."

"That's fair. And the good news is we can us this to cut our way out of here."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, he pulled out a scythe with a black blade and used it to break the boards down. As Susie watched him tear down the boards, she recalled a certain J-tailed imp that could help here.

"Shit!" Susie muttered under her breath as she felt around in her pockets "Where the fuck did Jevil go?"

"You brought him here?" Kris whispered back.

"Yeah, I kinda thought he'd be important for whatever magical bullshit journey I knew I was being pulled into when Joey put a magic door in my room."

"Ah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be splitting up the party a lot in this fic.


	3. Hi Wally! Bye Wally!

Beyond the boarded up door and down the stairs, a new message greeted them. The " **He will set us free** " message was completely covered over in ink with a new message showing through the wood: _I know how to set us free._

"Huh, well that's new."

*You ask Henry if other people down here had remembered too.

"I think this is the first time I've seen it from Sammy..."

"At least the banjo's still here." Kris picked up their trusty instrument to wield against the forces of evil and or scared and confused humans under a terrible curse. "Music calms them all down the most."

"Fuck, if I _knew_ that I'd need a musical instrument down here, I would've brought my base!"

*You play the tape recorder.

"After performing the ritual within the book, he has blessed me and cursed me with new divine purposes... At least I think it's him.-" " _🌩⚡️🌩 SQUAAAAWWK! 🕭︎ 🕭︎ 🕭︎ 🕭︎ 🕭︎ 🕭︎ 🕭︎ BAAAAA-AAAAH!!! 🚘🚑 🚒 KRCAW!! CAW!! 📞🚫☎️_ " " _Will you stop that?!_ " *It sounds like he's trying to push someone away, the rest of the recording has muffled sound effects and sheep/bird noises in the background* "...Nonetheless, I now know what I have to do to repent for my past sins. I know that I will have to be the one to set them free. I have learned how to set them free, but this freedom will come at a price."

The tape recorder clicked off, not followed by Sammy's non-recorded voice this time. Henry's tool revealed the message **Deceived** over the tape recorder and hoped that it was referring to a past timeline instead of this one. The idea of freedom from this crazy studio was still very appealing to him.

"So... is it just me or was something 'off' about that message?" Wally's recorder crackled to life. "I swear someone else was wit' him, but whoever they were did NOT sound human. Or like anything I've heard down here before..."

"Yeah, it sounded more like some kind of weird bird." Susie added. "...A really fucked up weird bird."

Following the very linear path set before the crew, they saw someone pass the ink-filled hallway. Unlike the inky figure Henry had grown used to seeing over time, the man that passed the crew by without a second (or first) glance had very long hair and something was off with his body. However, his voice was still the same.

_"Sheep, sheep, sheep... It's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed."_

"Hey! Sammy! Wait!"

Henry fruitlessly called out to the man as he chased after him, only to turn the corner and see that he was gone yet again.

"I still don't know how he does that..."

"Ah, Samuel T. Lawrence... Even after all these years, all the time loops, and all the other supernatural sh--ugar-honey-iced-tea I've seen down here, you still somehow manage to be the _weirdest_ son of a gun in the entire studio."

"...Even weirder than the creep upstairs in the bathrobe?"

"Yeah, I know what's goin' on in Joey's mind an' how his powers work, but Sammy's? nope! that's all a complete enigma! Trust me, I've tried _everything_ I could ta get a grasp on what's goin' on in there, but it doesn't matta if I'm in his tapes, in his flock, or in his god, I've been playin' detective outta boredom for years only to get more questions than answers! It made so much sense at the start when I didn't have any of the pieces; "okay, he's da Ink Demon's prophet, maybe he hooks 'im up with cool powers so he stays loyal." except NOPE! next loop; I'M the demon, and I sure as heck didn't knowingly give him any magic tricks. And his 'craziness'? it's probably a lie! He looks 'crazy' on the surface wit' the whole cult thing worshippin' a cartoon, but as a former really dedicated member of Sammy's freakin' undaground nudist cult, either the crazy is contagious and I still don't know it, or he makes an awful lot of sense when ya actually sit down an' listen ta him."

"This 'Sammy' guy sounds like he knows how to party."

"Ya'd think so, but no, not really. He was kinda a wallflower back at my wedding. Could slap together a real toe-tapper, but it seems like he only _makes_ da music, he doesn't dance ta it, yaknow?"

"That's not what I... Nevermind."

*You press the third switch, power is restored to the main gate.

Henry cut down the boards over the door and found that the music department was already well lit and the sound of muffled music was heard somewhere in the area. That alone wouldn't be too much of an issue, but there was also a strange stringy substance slithering all over the floors. Not fazed by the substance, Kris and Frisk began immediately looking for anything that would be useful.

"What the fuck..." Susie picked up a handful of the stuff off of the floor and held it up to the light, she was holding four long strings and odd things that looked like... "they're songs, look at them; this is the staff, these are the notes, here's a few bar lines... it's music."

"..."

"I'll take the hint and say 'this isn't normal, even for down here.' right?"

"I can't say for sure." Henry shrugged. "But for now it seems like a first."

"Can confirm, but I gotta say I _feel_ like I've seen it before. Although, I can't put my finger on where..."

The song in Susie's hand wiggled and writhed in her grip until she let it go, it used its newfound freedom to retreat back to where it came from.

"Wait, you guys know what all these songs appear to have in common?" Kris piped up.

"What?"

"They all slithered out of the same place."

They pointed to the room right of the Alice Angel poster and sure enough, all of the songs did look like they were sliding out through the crack under the door. Trying the door itself had proved that it was still locked.

*You put your ear against the door, and you hear the clacking of pool table balls and muffled music on the other side as you do so. *Smells like coffee.

"So do we cut it down or look for a key?"

"Hey if ya find my keys, hold on to 'em like your life depends on it! trust me about this!"

"These keys?" Kris held up a key ring.

"Yeah! wait, how'd you find 'em?"

"They were in the trash can next to the picture of Bendy with an umbrella."

"Good lord, I swear those things can teleport because that was the _first_ place I looked and they sure as hell weren't there."

The crew tried the keys on the door, only for it to not work.

"Maybe it will open later?"

"Yeah, let's try opening Sammy's sanctuary first."

_***BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *** BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG* *BAng* *bang* *bang* *...thud* _

Someone desperately pounded on the other side of the door before giving up and slumping to the ground, Wally could swear that he could hear the faint sounds of what was either weeping or a sheep bleating in the locked-off room.

"Hey, if you guys wanna put me down by the door real quick, go for it. I think I wanna give our friend back there a little company..."

"Are you sure?" Henry raised an eyebrow "If the Ink Demon comes by, you can't exactly run."

"'Dis joint is Sammy's terf an' he knows it. Apparently, demons can get weird about territory-type stuff in a kinda vampire-ish way..."

"Okay then, we'll pick you back up after taking care of the leak."

"See ya soon!"

As the team left to put in the sanctuary's song code, Wally tried to make small talk with the creature in the locked room.

"So Buddy, how'sit going?"

He heard the muffled sound of a confused bleat and a bell's chime on the other side of the door.

"Not too good, huh? Well at least you have a friend now."

He heard shuffling from the locked room, a faint click-clack of a single pair of cloven hooves followed by the doorknob trying to turn.

"Door's stuck? well don't worry too much there, pal! After Henry an' the others take care of that leak, I'm sure we'll find a way ta bust ya outta there!"

_*CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK*_

"Oh did ya get it? well good job there! Okay, listen: I'm gonna need you ta pick me up and carry me to the band room..."

As a tape recorder, Wally's senses were kinda askew. He couldn't smell (or taste, but it's not like he could try without a mouth) anything at all, without eyes it was really hard for him to see and he still wasn't sure how he could still do it, his hearing was thankfully exceptionally well, but as for his sense of touch...

"Uh... Buddy? Hello? Ya listening?"

In his mind, because he didn't feel the warmth of being held by a human being and he didn't feel any pain when he fell down the hole (and got a nasty crack on his side that needed a good bit of tape to show for it), he shouldn't have been able to feel the cold, stringy music staff curling up around him and pulling him up. The feeling of the music staff had now become the worst thing he ever felt; it had the thinly stringy-stickiness of a spiderweb, the vaguely rubbery feeling of unwelcome seaweed wrapping around him, and the coldness of the ink itself.

" _AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! H-HENRY! SUSIE! ANYONE! HELP M-_ *click*"

He would've continued screaming his nonexistent lungs out if one of the lines of the staff wasn't holding his pause button down as well as covering his speaker for good measure.

* * *

The projector clicked off again after enough failed attempts happened to fill the entire band room with Bendy cutouts, leaving the frustrated team to dick around and or ponder a solution.

*You press your ear against the shutter of Sammy's sanctuary...

"..."

 _"Yes... I suppose I can believe that. But how?"_

"..."

_"I see... of course! It makes perfect sense!"_

"..."

_"...Thank you, this isn't easy for me to learn, but it's what I needed to hear, what both of us need to hear."_

"..."

_"Ah. That's an interesting twist on it, it does feel rather liberating... I almost feel like the weight of my sins has lifted off of my back..."_

"..."

_"I know it will be a challenge, but if I can best you, then I know I can do anything."_

"..."

_"I am not afraid of what will await me. After all, I've been seeking death itself as long as I've been in the inky prison I've called my body."_

"..."

_"Yes, I am worried about how the rest of my flock will react then they learn of the weight of the ritual's price... but it can't be helped. If we all truly want to be free from Drew and his tyrannical grip on our minds and souls, then we'll all just have to make some sacrifices."_

"..."

_"I'll fetch him immediately."_

"..."

_"..."_

"..."

*It appears to have gone completely silent... *You partly regret not accepting the Ink Demon's offer of "full on spoilers" regarding Sammy.

"So the Banjo, the drum, the Base fiddle, and the sound of any of us screaming _like_ a violin don't make good violin replacements in Sammy's eyes..."

"Are you sure it was 'Piano, Banjo, Piano, Violin'? I get you've all been through this before, but I'm pretty sure if it was, there'd be a violin in this room."

"Okay, then we can go to Wally's closet and check the recording for the real answer, we do still have his keys."

They went back to the closet by Sammy's office...

\-----

"Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I have mine. To enter, you need only know my favorite song: The violin shudders with a piercing voice, the violin again screams, The base fiddle sings with deep articulation, the piano delicately calls. Sing my song, and my sanctuary will open to you."

"Well fuck, Sammy's favorite song changes with every play through, who knew?"

"...This... Doesn't fix the fact that we're missing the violin..."

"Do you think if we play a recording of a violin noise, it'll accept it?"

"It's worth a try."

Back in the band room, Henry played the projector, the recorded violin was played on Frisk's phone, Susie played the base, Kris took the piano... only for nothing to happen.

"Alright, if the stupid music puzzle won't work then why don't we just bust the door down?"

"Susie, it's made of metal."

"Henry has a scythe, it's probably supernatural."

*You point out that we could be missing something. *This run seems different than how it's supposed to play, so the solutions to the puzzles could be different too.

"Or maybe Sammy's trying to stop the loops altogether." Henry thought out loud. "If he knew about the loops and wanted to stop our progress to do his own thing, he'd sabotage the puzzle by taking away the most important instrument in the room."

"Okay, fill me in on this, what the fuck are we doing over here? What's our end goal for this musical puzzle shit?"

"We need to get into his sanctuary so that we can turn a valve and drain the infirmary."

"And we need to get into the infirmary because..?"

"the second pipe we need to drain is in there and after we turn it, we can get into Sammy's office and flip the pump switch so the stairwell drains."

"So, we can cut the bullshit by breaking the giant glass window in his office, got it."

Susie cracked her knuckles and strode out of the band room with a determined grin on her face.

. . .

She returned a few seconds later with a more nervous expression on her face.

"Hey guys, I don't know if this happened before or after the puzzle, but Wally and the music covering the floor are both gone now."

"What?!"

They followed her back out and saw that the music department was completely clean of ink stains and tangible music, the formerly locked-off room was now wide open and completely empty of living (or at least animate) entities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He'll be fine. (Probably.)


	4. Sammy, No.

Naturally, as people do when they're trapped in a haunted studio and knowingly can't run or hide, the gang ripped the music department's break room to pieces for any clues on who or what stole Wally with the intent to save him, or to avenge him.

"There's spilled ink and hoof prints all over the floor, but they end before they exit the room." Henry thought out loud as he took out the seeing tool, possibly in the hope that the hoof prints continued onward in invisible ink. 

"I've got an eyeball but apparently it was here before shit hit the fan?" Susie shrugged as she put it in her jacket pocket "Idunno, but I'm keeping it anyway."

"That's actually a good idea, we might need that eye for later."

"Well fuck, I just thought it'd make a cool souvenir." 

*You hold up the white feathers you found.

"Okay," Kris held up another one of the feathers and examined it "there's no destroyed pillows in here for these to belong to, so whoever took Wally has feathers and hooves."

"Was there a character in the show like that? I've only seen a handful of episodes and stopped watching when it got too repetitive."

"No, there never was."

The quartet spun to face the... ...entity for lack of a better term in the doorway.

"There were dozens of different animals drawn over the years, but no chimeras that I can recall."

Seeing Sammy quickly pass by from a distance and looking at him when he was in the same room as other people were two entirely different experiences. The man's newest design was unnerving, but not outright terrifying.

If he was silent and had stayed still, they would've assumed that he was either an impressive Halloween decoration or some kind of serial killer's art project. His body looked like it was cobbled together out of the broken remains of black and white mannequins. His clothing remained as the ratty patched-up pants and suspenders he always had, but he had seemingly lost his Bendy mask. His 'face' was a simplified Comedy mask, his 'eyes' and 'mouth' glowed a faint purple color, and one could swear that they glowed and dimmed as he spoke.

"So... 'Sammy', right? What the fuck is your game here?"

"My 'game'? I'm not sure what you mean..." The smiling mask fell off to reveal a near-identical mask with a curious expression as the mannequin-like creature drew uncomfortably close to Susie, tilting his head side-to-side as he studied her face, and quickly drawing away before she had the chance to punch him. "But I am no enemy to any of you." The intrigued mask fell off leaving another smiling mask in it's place.

"How much do you remember?" Henry asked in the hope that the prophet would be an ally this loop instead of an enemy.

"...Are you asking in general or in these stories?"

"In general?"

"Bits and pieces..." he sighed nostalgically. "Some old songs when they were newly sung, the smell of fresh coffee in the sewer, drawing the same things over and over and over again, bickering about nonsense over a game of darts, sometimes if I focus hard enough, I can remember their faces, their voices..." The smiling mask was starting to slip off, the one under it looked guilty and terrified.

"Their faces... their voices... the fear in their eyes, the screaming, the- the crying, the begging, the fighting, their red ink staining my own black ink, the noise, the noise, the noise, too much, it was too much... _He needed them_ _It wasn't right!_ _I had no choice in the matter!_ _There had to have been another way!_ _I tried, but he wouldn't listen! There WAS another way, but I refused to take it_. _I didn't want to die! I just didn't want to die! I was selfish, selfish, selfish..._ "

His entire body shook violently, his fingers clawing at his scalp as if he wanted to rip his head apart.

" _No, no, no._.. _What I do remember..._ **I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!** "

"Sammy! Calm down!" Henry grabbed the mad musician's hands and gripped them tightly in his own. "Focus on me, deep breaths..."

His head fell to the side, the scared mask falling off his face and the mask under it wearing an expression that Henry could only visualize as either the human version of 'error 404' or: 0_0

That mask also fell off, a confused mask underneath it.

"Wait... ...what were we talking about?"

Henry felt like he was walking on eggshells as Sammy took his hands back and took off the confused mask, the smiling mask was back in place.

"...The story? Do you remember how the story goes?"

"Vaguely."

"Can you fill me in on how it's supposed to go?" Susie chimed in "I'm lost as fuck."

"The director's script of the 'correct' story is basically a series of failures that lead to falling deeper and deeper into the studio. I imagine that from your perspective it's like Dante's inferno except your Virgil and Beatrice don't come in until the very last scene, they kidnap you, destroy a entire village full of desperate and hopeless people, and also they're completely useless when you need them the most but one of them blathers on about 'hope' so it's all okay I guess. This is probably a bad analogy, I can't remember how Dante's inferno went aside from it being a story where the main character goes to hell and passes out a lot."

"Okay, so constant failure and concussions brought on by a shit-eating asshole in a bathrobe. Got it."

"And your lord? do you plan to sacrifice us to him anytime soon?"

"No, none of you are worthy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When God hungers for souls, he wants to consume the corrupt, the vile, those who will never be missed by those of pure hearts. He wants to destroy the impure in the fires of righteous retribution, destroy them and let them all be reborn as a single, pure, holy being." Sammy turned his attention to Henry "Every time I went after you before, it was because your parasite tricked me into believing that you were the most corrupted among the corrupt, that you were Joey Drew."

"Okay."

"Do you remember any of us?"

"Hmm..." Sammy tapped on his mask in thought. "If she was here before then I don't remember her, I think I know you three, but Sampson knows you far better, and you, the reaper..."

The prophet took off the 'comedy' mask to reveal the 'tragedy' mask underneath it.

"My Lord's chosen champion..."

"Why am I his champion?"

"The scythe." Sammy pointed to the weapon in Henry's right hand. "To free us from the director's story, he as given us all roles to play before we are all set free: I am the vessel, _his_ vessel, and as the 'hero' of the stories, you are his champion."

Trickles of ink slowly started to leak out of the eyes of the mask.

"...Are you crying?"

"Am I?" He felt the ink on his mask, and felt that he wasn't smiling. "You'll have to forgive me." He took off the ink-stained tragedy mask, the smiling one underneath it still had sadness in its eyes. "Ah. It seems that in spite of everything... I selfishly still want to live."

"Sammy..."

"But this won't be an issue." He bowed in a way similar to how a marionette would. "I can't speak for the other six sacrifices, but I can assure you that when the time is right, it will be an honor and a privilege to die by your hands once and for all. If you happen to find my corpse in the aftermath, please bury what's left of it deep in the woods. Preferably underneath a giant tree by a river."

He turned his back to the team and left in spite of their protests.

"Wait! Sammy!" "Don't do this!" "Who the fuck are the other six?!"

"I'll also let you know if I find Wally before you do."

They chased after him, through the music department's main lobby, down the hallway, and just when they thought they caught him in a dead end as he turned to the flooded infirmary, he walked directly into the ink.

After it looked like he had completely disappeared, the ink in the infirmary drained away.

* * *

 ** _*GAAAAAASSSSSSSSSP!*_ ** _*Pant*, *pant*, *Wheeze*_

Wally drew in a breath of fresh air when his captor finally released his speakers and buttons. Technically, he didn't need air anymore, but it made him feel slightly more human. With his 'eyes' now free from the music-mimicking tendrils, he frantically looked around the new surroundings for the sick bastard who had taken advantage of his friendly nature.

_*COUGH* *Cough* *Cough* "Ugh..."_

From what he could see, the room was in an area the employees used to call "The Lyricist's Labyrinth" due to the fact it was where Jack Fain would often do his work. Specifically, it was a little corner in the sewer where it looked like somebody had set up a little reading nook with a coffee machine by it. Yep, definitely Jack's personal break room. The man losing his sense of smell altogether in his later years of working in the studio seemed to be more of a blessing than a curse to him.

The music seeped into the ink and disappeared, he strained his nonexistent eyes trying to look at where they were coming from before they all disappeared but to no avail. If Wally still had a physical heart, it would be pumping straight out of his chest with pure fear for himself and worrying about what this thing could've done to the poor lyricist. He heard frantic hooves dashing back and forth right behind him but couldn't see who or what was making those noises.

"A-alright, where ya at, ya sonnuva-"

"🕭︎!"

The single chime of a church bell caught him off guard, he knew that there was one somewhere in the studio (for some godforsaken reason) as Sammy used one to gather Lost ones and Searchers for sermons. But the said church bell was near the bottom of the studio, not in the sewers. 

And then, he felt something else grab him. It was a far cry from the music staff and its sickeningly gruesome texture; a firm grip seemingly made out of feathers that were softer than anything he's ever felt in his life and afterlives, it was also pleasantly warm to the touch.

"...huh?"

"🔑🔧🛎?"

The former janitor/repairman had seen a lot of crazy and unbelievable things throughout the years he's been trapped in this hell of a studio, from living ink that possesses people to a mortal man trapping a harbinger of death in an elevator. However, it seemed that now matter how 'used to' the crazy he got, there'd always be something he'd never seen before right in front of his face.

Like a 4-foot-7-inches (not counting the horns) tall cartoon bird...sheep...barbershop quartet singer that seemed to exclusively speak in sound effects and animal noises.

"Okay, uh... If ya can understand me, Chirp twice."

The cartoon character's face fell into an annoyed expression but he complied with Wally's request.

"Look, I'm just tryin' ta know if the language barrier goes both ways because I sure as _heck_ can't understand a word you're sayin'!"

Annoyance turned into confused nervousness as the birdlike creature gestured wildly.

"🧰 🎻 🪓?! ⚰️ 🎺 💥 🪕!!!"

"I swear I ain't pullin' your leg! I legitimately can't undastand a single thing comin' outta your beak! It's all just noise on my end."

The bird paced back and forth in frustrated nervousness until he snapped his 'fingers' and a light bulb appeared over his head. He plucked out one of his tail feathers, dipped it in ink and began to write.

**How about this? Can you read it?**

"Yeah, I can read it clearly!"

The sheepish songbird let out a sigh of relief and continued to write.

**I was locked up by the Ink Demon's prophet because I tried to stop him from preforming something that could destroy us all. And I took you the second I escaped because I panicked and thought the demon would kill you if he didn't catch me, he's still working with Joey and they don't like that I'm fighting back.**

"Okay, dat makes sense. but for future reference, NEVER EVER use those weird, music, strings on anyone ever again! I thought I was gettin' dragged inta the 8th circle of hell!"

**Sorry.**

"It's okay, now ya know! So... what's yer name?"

**I am Sammy Lawrence.**

At that moment, Wally was both questioning how and why the fuck this happened, questioning who the prophet was if this really was Sammy, and trying to hold back laughter at the thought of Sammy Fucking Lawrence becoming one of the cutest and fluffiest creatures he's seen in this studio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I told you Wally would be fine!


	5. With friends like Joey, who needs enemies?

Following the prophet down to the sewers, the crew discovered several things; 1. Sammy is either really fast when nobody's looking at him, or he can teleport. 2. it turns out, when previously not-broken grates are now broken, you shouldn't explore the area they guard without a plan. 3. getting hopelessly lost in a sewer maze that may or may not contain a crazed, possibly killer cultist is a lot less scary when you stick close together!

It's also less scary when you can hear the voice of your 'missing' tape recorder friend who appears to be perfectly safe and having a one-sided conversation with someone. By then, 'lost in a sewer maze' becomes 'we're playing "Marco Polo" in a sewer maze with a living tape recorder who won't shut the fuck up'.

"-and don't get me started on her popcorn!"

"He sounds like he's this way, let's go."

"Ta set the scene: normally, I'm allergic to the stuff. I'll eat it whenever I get the chance anyway because it's freakin' delicious an' I'm not gonna let some itchy splotches all ova me an' a real bad stomachache stop me from living my best life. But my wife, the absolute angel of a woman that she is, defied the curse placed on me by a cruel god by making popcorn that I'm somehow _not_ allergic to! And not only that, but it's the best dang popcorn I have eva tasted! Possibly the best popcorn in the entire freakin' world! It's a little bit sweet, salty, but not _too_ salty, and it's real savory. I know it's a little bit weird that she makes it in a wok... But hey, I'm not gonna look gift popcorn-witchcraft in da mouth."

"Wally! Where are you?"

"Good God I love her... 'Dis one time, I remembered outta the blue that her birthday was comin' up in four months an' dat 'er favorite flowers where morning glories so naturally, I went out ta the little spot in the fields where we had our first date an' planted them inta the shape of a heart. Now, I don't have a green thumb so I tried ta be sneaky about askin' her about plant care 'cause she knows more about plants than I do and lookin' back, it could've spoiled the surprise. Anyway, I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears inta that giant heart-shaped flower patch, and by the time her birthday rolled around... The look she gave me made all of that worth it!"

"Okay, he does sound like we're closer to him, but apparently not close enough for him to hear us." 

"Man... just talkin' about her makes me all teary-eyed. I mean, I try my best ta stay positive down here, but it's real hard sometimes. I miss her, I miss her an' my kids a whole bunch... Every single day I wish dat I just threw dat freakin' invitation away, ripped it up, stomped on da scraps, an' watched 'em fly away wit' da wind! Heck wit' it! I wish I threw out every single letter Drew ever sent me! I saw da writing on the walls a long time ago an' I shoulda remembered what they said. I suppose I should count myself lucky, at least Joey never got through to my family. Although, thinkin' that kinda makes me feel bad for Henry considerin' what Joey did ta Linda and-"

"HEY WALLY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"Wait a second, SUSIE IS THAT YOU?"

"YEAH! THE REST OF US ARE HERE TOO, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I'M OVA HERE WIT' JACK AN' SAMMY! IF YA CAN SMELL THE COFFEE THEN FOLLOW DA COFFEE SMELL!"

They followed the sound of the recorder's voice and sure enough, when they got closer, they did smell coffee.

"Alright, we're here and we smell coffee, where are you?"

"Up here!"

The gang looked up to see a white wing wave at them before a rope ladder was thrown down. Frisk went up it first as they were the smallest and lightest of the group, followed by Kris, Henry, and Susie.

"When ya finish climbin' on up, I'll explain everythin' that we found while you were out."

It was a surprisingly cozy area for a hidden room in an underground sewer maze that was in an abandoned studio. There were lit candles illuminating the room that were safely tucked into empty soup cans, there was a phonograph with a few records and books next to it in the corner, an old (but still somehow working) coffee machine sat plugged into the wall with empty bacon soup cans beside it, a few blankets were on the floor, and a giant pile of blank papers rested in the center of it, assumably they were for the creature who owned the white wing as a handful of papers with writing on them were next to him.

"It's not the fanciest or neatest safe house in the studio..." The sentient giant glob of ink dismissed as he rolled up the rope ladder "But it's better than nothing."

The chimera nodded in agreement with a chirp.

"So, Wally." Henry hesitated, he didn't know what to ask first; 'How did Joey reach Linda?', 'what did he do to her?', 'Is she still down here?', 'Do I _want_ to know what he did to her?' "When did Linda come here? And where is she?"

The air in the room felt tense after Henry asked those questions, two of the three men didn't have faces to express themselves with but Wally played static, Jack shrank into a corner trying to be as unnoticeable as possible, and Sammy looked uncomfortable and nervous as he scratched his quill against a blank sheet of paper.

**I don't know when she got down here, but I know she's in my village. You couldn't recognize each other the last times you met, but she's still her, just like how you're still you.**

Henry stayed silent as he read and re-read the paper Sammy handed him, not wanting to believe what it said.

The tense feeling in the room got even worse as a horrified look of realization slowly spread across Henry's face. He thought he'd seen everything the studio had to offer, he thought that because he now remembered everything, nothing would phase him at all anymore, he thought he could withstand any horror that Joey would force him to face to make him 'atone for his sins'. It never once crossed his mind that the nostalgia-stained shell of a silver-tongued parasite would tear down the family that he had built.

Although, maybe he should've seen it coming, what with Joey putting emphasis on the lovely family he had during his little speech. It felt genuine every time he couldn't remember, but now that he could, the words just felt hollow and rotting.

" _ **JOEY YOU SICK, TWISTED** **FUCK!**_ "

The reaper slammed the first paper down on the floor, completely shattering the silence.

" _ **WHY?! WHAT'S THE POINT?! IS *THIS* WHAT YOU WANTED TO SHOW ME?! THAT EVEN THOUGH 'YOU LOST THE BATTLE, YOU WON THE WAR'?! Just...wh** y did you do this to everyone I love...? ...Was it me? Are you trying to say that it's my fault for loving them?_"

Everyone was conflicted between trying to give the grieving persona of death as much space as they physically could in the small room and trying to comfort him. But the first to approach him was the songbird demon.

Sammy looked sheepish in the metaphorical sense as he hopped over and handed Henry the other sheet of paper.

**Don't blame yourself for what Joey did. I'm Sorry for what happened, but know that it wasn't your fault. Know that it _can't_ be your fault. Joey being the sentient essence of bullshit and broken dreams is Joey's fault, not yours, or mine, or anyone else's.**

"Do... you want us to be with you or do you want to be alone for a bit?" The oddly lucid Searcher held Henry's free hand in his own hands. "I'm pretty sure that this is the first strong reaction you had since Buddy's book."

" _I-I Don't know_ " the former animator choked out against his heavy breathing " _I just don't know..._ "

* * *

After witnessing what was most likely the final nail of his coffin being hammered down, Joey Drew anxiously paced in the kitchen while waiting for the new audience to come.

Everything was quickly falling apart more and more. Those damned brats had ruined everything they touched! They ruined the prophet and the Ink Demon in the last rerun, they ruined his chances of getting more red ink for the machine, they ruined his favorite chair, they set to work on completely ruining the story, they successfully ruined perfectly good props by giving them back their sentience, and now, now Joey had lost Henry for good, and with him, Joey had lost everything!

It was just like him leaving the studio on that fateful day... But as much as he wanted to sulk over the past, he had a giant problem on his hands that was quickly spiraling out of control.

He couldn't make himself the audience twice in a row, especially when the show itself went off the rails so badly. Something like that would take his life! So, as soon as Susie had fled his house, he had called up three other contacts in Kris's phone.

He wasn't caught off guard when he discovered that they all monsters, that they were a giant bird, a reindeer, and a goat. He was just thrilled that they came.

"Howdy! So you're 'Joey Drew' right?" The goat spoke. "You called me earlier and said you knew what happened to my siblings."

"Why that I did my boy! But before we get to that, can you come inside? It's freezing cold out there."

"Yeah... cold..." The annoyed looking bird grumbled "That's what the weather's like when you call people over AT FOUR IN THE MORNING DURING WINTER!"

"Berdly, don't be rude!" The timid reindeer piped up "I'm sure whatever he has to say is important enough to warrant this."

"Well, it was rude of me to call you three over on such short notice, Why don't I make it up to you with some hot chocolate?"

"Thanks..?"

"I don't drink hot chocolate anyway."

"You might not like _normal_ hot chocolate, but you never had MY hot chocolate before!"

" _I said I don't drink it, I didn't say I don't like it._ "

"Oh I love hot chocolate Mr. Drew! Making big batches of it with my parents and all my siblings is the best thing about winter."

He wasn't caught off guard when they spoke about how worried everyone was about their missing pair of hellions. He was a little bit surprised that the bird seemed worried underneath that snappy behavior, but overall, he was just happy that they didn't see him put a generous amount of ink into each of their mugs before he handed them to the beasts.

"Before you say it Mr. Corvidae, yours isn't hot chocolate. It's coffee, you look like you need it."

"That's some... _really_ black coffee..."

"It's a family recipe, not the stuff you're used to."

"Mr. Drew, we appreciate your hospitality, but about my siblings..."

"Why Asriel Dreemurr I completely understand your concerns, they're based in nothing but nightmares! they're perfectly fine! The two have simply joined a little acting troupe of mine, I'm sure the timing was a little weird and inconvenient, but you know traffic in New York! It's always crazy..."

"They... joined an acting troupe? Specifically, KRIS joined an acting troupe?! I know that they were coming out of their shell ever since they did that group project with Susie, but joining a professional acting troupe seems like it's a little too much 'crowd chaos' for someone like them, even if they worked backstage..."

" _Please_ just tell me that you just called us here to pick them up and take them home already!" the bird monster whined "It's been weeks, practically a month, their mom and dad are both worried sick, they didn't answer their phones once, and honestly, I'm running on a solid twenty minutes of sleep right now and even I can tell that all of this is way too fishy! Even if both of their phones died, wouldn't they at least tell their mom where they're going before they left in the first place?"

"Now, now, I get that from your end it looks scary and suspicious, but it's nothing but a series of misunderstandings! Kris and Frisk are helping me out with a little show of mine and they left their mother a note that I'm sure somehow got lost when she tore up the place looking for them, their phones died because one of them forgot to pack a charger, and we've simply been too busy with the show to get that taken care of."

"And... How are you related to them again?"

"I'm an old family friend from Frisk's human side of the family, I'm sure the kid's mentioned me before, how else would my name be so familiar to you?"

He wasn't caught off guard when they spoke of strange confusing things that the ghost kid and the hellion pair also spoke of.

"I was scared out of my mind the second I found out they're both gone, but I still don't know HOW worried I should be about them. I know they can handle themselves pretty well. They're pretty determined and fought off some pretty big boss battles before, but ever since Kris told me about the Dark World and Seam's warning, I figured that if something like this happened we should hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

"Their 'packing' also seems suspicious, they're doing a show and they mostly only took food? Sounds a lot more like they knew they were in for a lot of fights and grabbed as many healing items as they could."

"According to Ms. Toriel, They also grabbed items that seemed like they could double as armor and weaponry..."

He WAS caught off guard when the three of them seemed to be immune to the inked drinks he served them. Well, at least immune to the supernatural effects, not the flavor.

"Um... so what kind of chocolate did you use in this Mr. Drew?"

"Milk chocolate, why?"

"I'm asking because I never tasted Hot chocolate this bitter before."

"So it's milk chocolate... and what else?"

"Why Ms. Holiday, I'm sure someone like you can understand the importance of a secret family recipe!"

Berdly knocked his mug over and spat out his drink all over the table, coughing and sputtering. The two monsters (Noelle and Asriel, not Joey) looked concerned as they saw that there was a bunch of large black chunks of _something_ in his 'coffee'.

"THERE'S HUMAN FLESH AND BLOOD IN THE COFFEE!" He screamed "WE'RE _DRINKING_ THE EVIDENCE THAT HE KILLED THEM!"

"WHAT?!"

Noelle looked sick to her stomach as she pushed her own mug away and Asriel looked like he was more than ready to burn the entire house down. The fireball he summoned was already making quick work on the counter.

"W-WAIT! I'm sure the poor boy's just so tired that he's seeing and tasting things that aren't really there! I'm sure that after he rests up a bit, he'll be just-ACK!" Asriel pulled the old director up to his snarling face by his collar and held the fireball up to his throat.

" **Show me where they are NOW.** "

Not thinking about the big picture and more concerned about being burned alive by a demonic goat, Joey pointed to the door to his left, the entrance to the studio. And the said goat burned down the (recently fixed and heavily reinforced) door keeping them out of Bendy's realm, his friends following behind.

" **For your own sake, we had BETTER find them alive!** " He growled. " **If we don't I _will_ find you again, Joey Drew.**"

The flames within the studio rose too high for a normal person to safely follow them, let alone someone like Joey. And when the fires finally died, they were clearly long gone.

"Damn them... damn them all to Hell!" He slammed his fist against the still smoldering counter as he continued to rant out of their earshot "Was it really too much to ask for an audience that stays!? All I wanted to do was fix how things went, if Henry only pushed harder... none of them would even be here! Why are they mad at me but not him?! Henry remembers everything and he hates every bone in my body! He'd never even think of trying to salvage the story now!"

And now that his last chance for saving his skin walked right out the door, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place: does he pull the plug on the show to save his own skin but set all the souls free in the process, making it impossible to fix what has been done or does he continue the show and risk killing himself painfully and damning his soul to the deepest pits of Hell?

**"He hates every bone in your body... _and who's fault is that?_ "**

"Don't test me now demon! Of course it's his fault! If he had never left, things never would've gotten this bad!"

**"And... who made him leave?"**

"Linda! If she didn't poison his mind with that 'family' nonsense there, then _we_ could've built a great family here!"

**"I see... Now let's look at the start of this Rube Goldberg Machine of suffering: Who put the idea that he should leave this place into Linda's head?"**

"It was Henry when he acted so tired all the time! Why are you asking me all of these questions anyway?!"

**"Whelp! I'll cut to the chase; you probably *think* you have two roads left: die by the hands of your employees or die by your own hands... As a good son, I'm here to remind you that you actually have three options, (you would've had four, but your words prove otherwise...) So lucky option number three: chuck your own soul into the good ol' Ink Machine and let whatever happens happen! Sure, this can and will permanently strip you of the powers you have over them, but it means you get to live _and_ dodge accountability!"**

"And live out the rest of my days as a miserable searcher or a lost one?! No. thank. you."

**"Well you can't say that I didn't try to help. Toodles!"**

"Just do your job and I'll do mine."

He looked over at the ink machine as soon as the demon left, a grin spread across his face as he thought up a new plan. Maybe he wasn't as screwed as he thought he was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a good reason why I started a series dedicated to Joey getting what's coming to him on my birthday.


	6. Buddy makes some friends

Asriel's fire magic was growing stronger and stronger as the three monsters went deeper and deeper into the inky, never-ending basement. At first, he was just burning down obstacles in the trio's way, like the piles of fallen debris and the locked doors in their way. But soon, almost everywhere they went, rainbow fire followed.

" _I can't believe the nerve of that creep... Stealing my siblings and keeping them in a maze basement for weeks..._ " The monster prince growled as he burned a clean pathway through another wall. "I swear on the Angel if I find so much as a SINGLE SCRATCH on either of them, I'm going to burn the entire building down!"

As he said that, a flaming board fell into a scorching hole made by his fire.

" _Do you think we should talk to him about this?_ " Noelle whispered to Berdly.

" _And risk becoming target practice?_ " He whispered back " _No thanks! I want to live!_ "

" _If he keeps this up, he might burn the entire place down with us in it..._ "

" _Well, why don't YOU talk to him then?! He hates me! If I talk to him, it'll turn into a_ **_giant_ ** _argument and spiral out of control. Besides, your family and his are practically joined at the hip! He probably sees you as an honorary little sister._ "

" _He does not hate you! Sure, you and his siblings don't really see eye-to-eye... But that doesn't mean he HATES you._ "

" _Remember the "End of School Potluck" incident?_ "

" _...What does you eating chicken have to do with how Asriel feels about you?_ "

" _ACK!_ "

Before the bird monster could retort, he was blinded by a bright light that came from down the hall to the trio's left. A bright light that drew closer and closer.

"Hey Asriel!" Noelle tapped on his back to get his attention "Look!"

As the light approached, the three monsters could hear the sound of old work boots thudding across the rotting wooden floors.

" _Asriel, what should we do?_ " Berdly whispered to the prince. " _That guy could be working with Joey for all we know!_ "

" _We'll greet them at first and if they try to attack, we'll scare 'em off._ " He whispered back before turning to face the dog-like silhouette. "Howdy! I'm Asriel-"

The Prince looked absolutely dumbfounded when he was face to face with the cartoon wolf.

"...Boris?"

The Wolf clicked off his headlamp as he saw that it was hurting the trio's eyes and gave a friendly wave in response. But as he clearly saw the trio of monsters for the first time, he too looked dumbfounded.

'Holy fuck, a real, living cartoon' thought the monster trio. And 'Holy cow, what are these creatures? Why do the look like that?' thought the wolf in turn.

There was a brief awkward silence between the two parties before inky webbing began to spread across the floor. Knowing the tell-tale sign of the ink demon all too well, curiosity could wait. Boris grabbed Asriel's hand and gestured to the other two monsters to follow him as he ran down the hall, turned right, and piled everybody including himself into the little miracle station.

**"Oh Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, wheeeeereeee areeeeeeee yooooooooouuuu... Come out, come out wherever you are~"**

The cartoon wolf shook like a chihuahua left outside in a winter storm as the deformed Bendy limped into sight and towards the group's hiding place. And the other three would be lying if they had said that they weren't the least bit frightened at the sight of the dripping, twisted re-imagination of a beloved childhood icon within the underground.

 **"Ah HA!** **_there you are!🎶_ ** **"**

The wolf let out a terrified yelp as he tried holding the door closed as tightly as he could. He struggled with the task due to his arms shaking furiously and the fact it was hard to keep the door closed in general due to there being multiple bodies being piled into such a small space.

**"Okay, I get that you're scared of me... But in all seriousness you really do need to come out and here's why: I'm gonna lead you right out of the studio; no tricks, no strings attached, no nothing. You can bring any friends you find along the way, I'd send Sammy to do this for me instead of doing it myself because you trust him more, but lately Sammy's been kinda..?....?... Not himself? I don't know how to describe it."**

Boris arched an eyebrow at the demon's words before thinking it over. Surely, just because he said it wasn't a trap didn't mean it was true. He has been lied to before by the angel and doubted that the Demon could be honest.

 **"You want an explanation for my sudden kind gesture? fine: Without the audience, Joey's faced with a mortal dilemma and is definitely going to ignore my excellent advice in favor of doing something very, very** **_stupid_** **. I don't think he'll pull the plug altogether, he's way too stubborn for that. But There WILL. BE. CONSEQUENCES. For what he does. And guess who will suffer the most from those consequences?** **_that's right; the cast._ Oh and also the audience too, but most likely on a more emotional level.** **"**

" _Boris, what's he talking about?_ "

The wolf gave a sheepish shrug to the reindeer monster.

 **"Well lookie here! You** **_did_ ** **find yourself some friends!"**

" _Eep!_ " Noelle covered her mouth with her hands.

**"Good for you. Now c'mon, we gotta run before Joey figures out I'm trying to help you."**

A lifetime of being hunted down for sport by this monster didn't make him seem all too trustworthy, but at the same time, Boris had never heard such a degree of nervousness in the Ink Demon's tone of voice before... Wait. It could just be another trap, the very few sentient creatures in this world were rarely honest and he doubted that the Demon would be among them.

Boris looked to the other three monsters for an answer, and Asriel stepped out of the Miracle station first.

**"So is this a yes? I know he can't speak but since the rest of you can, it'll help to give a verbal conformation."**

"I've known you for less than a minute, but based on Boris's reaction, I don't think I can take your word at face value. However, based on the fact Joey tried to poison us and you seem to be working against him, I trust you more than I trust Joey. So here's the deal: We will go with you, but we're not leaving until we find my siblings."

 **"Okay, okay, fair..."** The Ink Demon shrugged nonchalantly before snapping his fingers. **"OH! Good news! If your siblings are who I think they are then I can confirm that I've met them! Two human kiddos in striped sweaters, right? Kris and Frisk? One likes music and the other one likes to flirt with everything that moves?"**

"Yes! That's them!"

" _THANK. FUCKING. GOD._ "

 **"Here."** The demon pulled out an old-fashioned dial phone and proceeded to put in a number before handing the phone itself to Asriel. **"Judging by all the magic-made fire going on down here, you** ** _really_** **need to talk to them. *** ** _Ahem*_** **(And if you could put those out for me by the way, I'd really appreciate it...)"**

"O-oh! Yeah, sure." The goat prince sheepishly put out his flames. "Sorry about that..."

* * *

_*_ The Ink Demon is calling. *Answer the phone?

❤Yes.

"Hello? Frisk are you there?"

❤Asriel?

"Oh thank god... Is Kris with you?! Are you both okay?! What happened!?"

*You put the phone on speaker and tell everyone that it's Asriel. *On the other side, you can hear a Little Miracle station door opening and closing.

"FRISK! KRIS! WHERE ARE YOU?! WE'RE HERE TO DRAG YOU BACK HOME!"

"Berdly!"

"Holy fuck, is everyone on my phone contacts down here?"

"To my knowledge, Mom and Dad aren't down here so no."

"So how did you three get down here?"

"Some creep in a bathrobe told me he had my siblings at his house. I wanted to kill him but decided against it."

"If you see him again," Henry deadpanned " _Please_ kill him."

"✅! ☑️! ✔️! 💯 👍❗"

*You vote for breaking his legs and throwing him to the bottom of the studio where he can die on impact and slowly rot away into obscurity. *Huh? *You don't do that? *Hmm. *Actually, yeah. *You made a good point. *You vote for letting the Ink creatures decide his fate.

"Amen to that." Jack chuckled "Although, if I had to choose between seeing Joey get what's coming and getting out of here..."

"Okay, so that's four votes for killing him then? (One's implied, and one of them's from a ...parrot?)"

"🚫🦜!"

"In all fairness, he _*did*_ try to poison us, so it's really self defense..."

"Five votes."

**"Whooaaaa there! Hold your horses partner! Sammy spilled the beans for you, right? I'd recommend asking a doctor if enacting your righteous and well-deserved wrath on a parasitic shell of a delusional thief is right for you. Or just... seeing a doctor in general."**

A loud rumble shook the entire studio as Henry and Jack both doubled over in pain.

"OH SHIT!"

"🚨🚧🛑!!! 🚓🚒🚑!!! ⚠🔪🌋📢🚫❌ ❓❗☢️☣️!!!"

" _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..._ "

Jack looked at his quickly melting hands in horror as his words died in his mouth, the searcher looked back to the rest of the group for hopes of some kind of explanation, but to no avail.

"There was an infirmary down here!" Susie slung the old animator over her shoulders "Do we need to rush them to that?!"

"✔️❓ 🚑! 🚑! 🚑! 🚑! 🚑! 🚑!"

"No, there's no need for that." Joey's cold and venomous voice crackled out of the gramophone. "And I suggest you put my old friend back down Ms. Campbell. If you know what's good for them, that is."

Susie gritted her teeth and reluctantly obeyed the bastard man.

"Good girl."

"Shut up you old sack of shit! I can and I WILL rip off your sagging bitchy face right off of your fucking head!"

Henry chocked out a pained wheeze as an invisible grip on him tightened.

" _Uuuurruugghh..._ "

*...It looks like Jack's mind has gone back into the dark puddles...

"Watch your language young lady!"

"So I take it this is a hostage situation going on?"

"That's not quite right, but it's almost there Kris! I didn't want it to come to this, _but there is too much at stake for me to let this nonsense go unchecked any longer..._ "

"Al'right, and your demands are..?"

"The three of you, Frisk, Kris, and Susie, get out of that sewer, exit the music department through the door at the end of the stairwell, and come back inside. I don't want much from you three, you just need to see a little show of mine, that's all."

"If we do that, you'll stop hurting our Grandpa, right?"

"Me? I'd never dream of hurting my own best friend. If you do this, you'll stop hurting him by inserting yourself into his story."

"🚫! 🚫! 🚫!" Sammy furiously tugged on Kris's sleeve and violently gestured against the deal, as well as scribbling down an almost illegible message.

**DON'T TRUST THAT SNAKE! HE LIES! HE ALWAYS LIES!**

" _We're not going to._ " Kris whispered reassuringly to the chimera. " _But we can't let him do this to Henry, or anyone else for that matter._ "

*You reluctantly tell Joey that you accept his deal, On the conduction that he doesn't hurt your friends anymore.

"A very wise decision!"

*You can practically feel the sliminess in Joey's smile... *It sickens you to a degree you didn't know was humanly possible until now.

**Be careful and have backup plans for your backup plans. Just because you know some of the cards he has in his sleeves doesn't mean he won't cheat some other way.**

"Sorry guys..."

"Ey, you three don't beat yourselves up ova it. 's not your guy's fault that Joey's sixty-or-seventy-something years old and still throws temper-tantrums like a toddler when he doesn't win."

"We'll come back for you! we swear on it!"

"We know! Good luck dealin' wit' da 'genius' upstairs though."

"Frisk, Kris..." Henry forced himself up onto unsteady legs. "Susie, Can you promise me you'll stay safe?"

It wasn't a very fair question. The three could either lie to his face and say 'yes' or they could tell him the truth. Instead, the three wrapped him up in a group hug.

"We'll do our best."

After a heartfelt goodbye was had, the two humans and the monster unwillingly trudged their way out of the sewer maze and into the Music Department. Even without the flood of ink blocking the door and the door itself being opened and having golden light pour in through it, it looked as unwelcoming as a freshly dug grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink Demon after realizing that he got caught betraying Joey: *chuckles* I'm in danger!


	7. Little did Joey know that the power of friendship™️ and DETERMINATION cannot be stopped, period.

"One the count of three, we run in and beat him up until he says he'll let everyone out, got it?"

Susie's teammates nodded in approval.

"Okay, ready:"

The trio steadied themselves.

"One... two... ...THREE!"

" _YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHhhhhhhh...huh?_ "

The three went in banjo and ripped-off bed leg swinging wildly, all three looked determined to smack a wrinkly old bitch. But as they charged into the light, their vigor soon died out in confusion as they looked at their surroundings.

This was not Joey Drew's frankly hideous apartment, it was a well-lit and cozy looking living room that the three of them recognized instantly; the large dark-blue couch facing the TV, the book of hymns next to the said couch, Chasgore the not-so-beloved living room chair sat solemnly next to the TV, Chairiel the beloved living room chair proudly sat in the corner next to the landline phone, and most importantly: the area was completely devoid of ink. Even the living room rug didn't have as much as a single speck of an ink stain on it.

"Hey, this is your guys' house, right? Do you think he just let us go?"

*❤No.

"Yeah, I doubt he'll go through all the trouble of kidnapping us just to return us... Unless it was _after_ we beat him up."

" _Picture is right, food inside the fridge matches up, the caked-on batter mess matches the one at home, white fur's stuck in the drain, trash can smells the same, there's even the same cookie cutters..._ "

Kris looked around the kitchen before reporting back.

"Every single detail about this place perfectly matches our real house, so either he let us go, he broke into our house enough times to perfectly recreate a fake version of the real house that's going to distort into a nightmarish abomination, or we died and we're in memory limbo."

"Well fuck..." Susie tried the living room door, not only did it not budge, but it didn't even feel like a proper doorknob. "Guess it's either Joey's nightmare dollhouse or we're dead, because unless your mom put enough superglue in the door to make sure it would never move again, he didn't let us go."

*You notice something strange about the TV... take a closer look?

*❤Yes

*Unlike the TV at your actual house... this TV is plugged in! *And there appears to be a Nintendo switch console connected to it.

*Turn on the TV?

*❤Yes

*The TV clicks on to a black screen illuminated by the Joey Drew Studios logo, accompanied by an ominous noise.

"Hey Frisk, what did you find?"

*You scoot away from the TV to let Kris and Susie see. *The screen has changed to Bendy's worn-down and ink stained face with the options "BEGIN" and "OPTIONS" available.

"'Bendy and the Ink Machine'..?"

"Real creative title there, Joey. You've got yourself a Bendy, you've got an Ink Machine, mash 'em together and you've got yourself a grade A title, 10 outta 10. Hell yeah, not lazy at all."

*You pick up the controller. *Pressing BEGIN takes you to a screen that has a used slot with well over thousands of hours on it, and two empty slots. *Pressing the used slot gives you a message that says "FILE CORRUPT". *You select one of the empty files without issue.

DEAR HENRY

It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together. 30 years really slips away, doesn't it?

If you're back in town, come visit the old workshop.

There's something I need to show you.

Your best pal, 𝓙𝓸𝓮𝔂 𝓓𝓻𝓮𝔀

After a brief loading screen, the 'game' began.

CHAPTER ONE: MOVING PICTURES.

_"Okay Joey, I'm here. Let's see what you wanted me to see."_

"You know, I probably commented on this before, but it's so weird to see Bendy like this. Imagine you got kidnapped by fucking Walt Disney and you get chased around by a demonic Mickey Mouse."

The screen flickered and the living room rumbled ominously.

"Oh I'm sorry, IMAGINE IF YOU GOT KIDNAPPED BY A FUCKING LONELY LOSER IN A BATHROBE WHO STOLE HIS EX-BEST FRIEND'S OC AND COULDN'T DO SHIT WITH IT OTHER THAN FUCK UP THE PLACE AND THEN HE THROWS YOU INTO HIS WEIRD ASS DOLLHOUSE DIMENSION WHERE HE USES A DEMONIC LANKY BITCH WITH DADDY ISSUES TO CHASE YOU AROUND AND THEN MR. BOOTLEG MCFUCKUP-DISNEY DECIDES TO CHUCK YOU ASIDE IN YOUR FAKE HOUSE BECAUSE HE'S A WHINY LITTLE MAN-BABY WHO CAN'T HANDLE A STORY BEING CHANGED!"

"That sucks, Kris." Susie commented between chewing stolen chips before holding out the bag "Want some?"

"Sure."

Kris sighed before flopping down on the couch with her as they watched Frisk play through the "Proper" story.

* * *

Meanwhile, Henry woke up not in the sewer, but instead tied to a pole face-to-face with a masked figure made out of ink. However, in spite of the other man before him following Sammy's scripted lines, it was obvious at a mere glance that he was not Sammy. He was much shorter and stockier than the former music director, and it clicked who he was the second he spoke.

"There we go now, nice and tight. We wouldn't want our sheep roaming away now, would we?"

"Jack?"

"No we wouldn't."

The inky man ignored him in favor of continuing the script, which Henry half expected as he started digging through his pockets for his scythe.

"I must admit I am honored you came all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel."

"Jack! Bendy's not going to go after me, he's going to go after you. If you untie me, we can figure something else out."

It was a hopeless plea and the man knew it, but he wasn't finding the scythe anywhere! He did find a disembodied eyeball and a syringe full of a clear liquid that he assumed that the others stuck in there during the group hug, but no scythe. 

"But the believers must honor their savior, I must have him notice me."

Henry sighed to himself, he should've known better than to assume that Sammy's understudy would have an easier time 'breaking character' when the animator knew too well that what Joey wanted from this sick little game of his, Joey got.

"Wait, you look familiar to me, that face."

"How? I can understand Sammy saying that but I left before you were hired."

"Not now. For our lord is calling to us, my little sheep. The time of sacrifice is at hand and then I will finally be freed from this prison _._ This inky dark abyss I call a body."

Unlike Sammy, Jack didn't use body language in his performance and it was frankly jarring, all the lyricist did was stand there as still as a statue while reciting the real prophet's lines.

"Shhhhh Quiet! listen! I can hear him. Crawling above. Crawling. Let us begin, the ritual must be completed! Soon he will hear me. He will set us free."

"Hey, my ropes are getting a little loose, could you tighten them up for me?"

As per the script, Jack ignored his statement in favor of locking himself in the ritual room.

"Sheep, sheep, sheep, It's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed. In the morning you may wake, or in the morning, you'll be dead _._ HEAR ME, BENDY! ARISE FROM THE DARKNESS! ARISE AND CLAIM MY OFFERING! FREE ME I BEG YOU! I SUMMON YOU INK DEMON! SHOW YOUR FACE AND CLAIM THIS TENDER SHEEP-"

Henry untied himself and was finally allowed to pull his scythe out of his pocket.

"NO! MY LORD! STAY BACK! I AM YOUR PROPHET! I AM YOUR _AAAAAAAAAHHH!!_ "

Maybe it was morbid curiosity, maybe it was hope, maybe it was just sheer spite, but no matter what it was, Henry slashed and hacked at the locked door until it broke in half, revealing the chaotic state of the room, the failed ritual, and the swollen searcher that was huddling up in the corner, but no Ink Demon in sight.

Jack gurgled in fear and flinched away from Henry when he approached, afraid of the reaper toon and his scythe. Seeing this, the old animator set down his weapon and took a seat on the floor himself to appear less frightening. It worked a bit as Jack was no longer fearfully groaning in his presence. Knowing that the escape was blocked off by Bendy and that unless Henry did something absolutely wild he wouldn't escape anyway, he just stayed with Jack. Earning the searcher's trust would clearly take longer than dragging an unconscious body away from a demon hot on his heels, but he was willing to do it.

* * *

" _AAAAAUURRRRGGHH!!!_ "

Joey tore up papers in frustration and threw them to the ground. He had fixed the problems, didn't he? He threw Sammy back into the well and wouldn't let him out until he would behave and those meddling sweater-wearing kids and their hulking lizard beast were finally his audience! Sure, he had to stretch out of his comfort zone and their prison took a LOT of energy to make and maintain, and despite the win-win solution he handed to them, they were still ungrateful! But he had them in his clutches and out of the main machine, so after an extra bucket of acetone, their influence in Bendy's realm should have been completely erased.

So why did Henry not only still remember, but had done something akin to what one of those sweater-brats would've done? Obviously, the answer was to spite him.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!? TO US?! DID WHAT WE BUILT TOGETHER MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?!"

Henry was being too stubborn for the story teller's liking. He knew too much, he kept too much, and worst of all, he intentionally broke the script in favor of slogging the story down for the sake of just sitting by a lump of worthless ink, doodling, and digging things he shouldn't have out of pockets that he technically also shouldn't have in the first place.

"Please Henry..." The director pleaded "I just want the best ending..."

At the very least, the Ink Demon knew that his punishment was awaiting him, why else would that cheeky grinning bastard not pop in on him at this time and yammer on about "Insanity", "Selfishly stupid decisions" and how "Trying to override other people's free will with your own technically means they become just a them-flavored puppet of you and therefore can't use their own problem solving abilities to fix _your_ mess" As if a soulless ink blot could ever know anything about good storytelling or the human mind for that matter!

No... Henry was just being unreasonable... that was the only answer. But he wouldn't be forever... All he has to do is let the trio of troublemakers slowly dry themselves out within the machine and present their remains to the animator. Surely then he'd finally listen to him. And surely then he'd finally push through to get that good ending.

* * *

The animator didn't really have a plan to win over Jack's trust other than 'don't look threatening to him'. And while the blob seemed content to just sit and stare into space indefinitely, Henry preferred to do things while waiting, so he figured he'd try to draw Jack. The first few sketches of him were of him as a searcher, nothing too complex, just the sentient blob of ink and his very nice hat.

This had captured the creature's attention, the searcher had silently moved to look over the toon reaper's shoulder and had only made his presence known when he tried to speak.

" _?̷͘͜e̕͡m̡͘͢ ̡ţ͘a̢͘͜ht̴ ̢̕s̕I̢_ "

"What?"

The searcher pointed to the animator's sketches of him.

" _?̵̢ȩ̛͢m̡ ̡t̡͢ah̛͟t̷͘ ͠s͡I_ "

"...Yes?"

"O͟͡o͠o͠o͠҉Hh.҉.͞.҉̴ "

Jack slumped down into a sulking mess on the other side of the small room, clearly not happy with being reminded that he was a slug-like mass of ink and that the only identifying feature he had was his hat.

" _...̡͞.̢͘n̴oooo҉̡ǫ͜o҉̧s y̡͠r͏̵̵e̴̕͟v͏ ̶͘͘g͡n҉҉i͞m͘o̡͟͝c̛͘ ҉͜s̴͜'̡͢e̶͝h ͞,̴͟l͞a̧v̛i͜r̸̢r̶a̴͟ ̢͜͜s̸i͡h̸̨̡ ̢r̢̧o̸̡f ̴̴̢t̡̡̕i̡a̵w͏͏͏ ̸̸̧,̧͜͢e̡n̴̢͠u͞҉t̵̢͘ ͞y̵͟r̕r̡e̵m͟͜͝ ̴a ͠ę͠lt̴s̵̷̸i̸͡h̢͞w̷̷ ͜,͞͝ģ͝͠n͠o͘s͘͡ ̷y̵̛p҉̸͠p͝a͡H̸ ̴a̷̛ ̴̡͠ģ͝n̷i̵S̷͢͠_ "

Henry felt bad for the lyricist, he doubted he'd be too happy to be a searcher himself so he put aside the searcher sketches and started a new set of doodles, ones of a soft and friendly looking man with a very nice bowler hat. As he had never known of the lyricist before the loops or 'reruns' as the Ink Demon called them, he doubted the doodles were 100% accurate, but he hoped Jack would like them. He wordlessly slid the new drawings across the room and waited for Jack's reaction.

The sewer dweller glanced at the new drawings at first, looking almost ready to rip them up before taking a closer look at them. 

" _HhHNnRRrrYyyy?_ "

Okay, his speech was raspier and more drawn out, but it was also slightly more understandable now. Maybe that was a good thing.

"Yes?"

The searcher held up the drawings of himself.

" _Eeis Thhes Mee?_ "

"I Think so? I don't really know what you used to look like, so these are just guesses."

The creature 'smiled' and hugged the drawings.

" _Thhhaaaak YYyyouu._ "

"You're welcome, I'm glad you like them."

" _Alllmusst forrgot Myyccelf... Toooooo manny voiices in the willll I Haeight it heree._ "

"Do you want to get out of here too?"

" _Oowwt?_ "

"Yeah, I'm trying to find a way out of here."

" _Saaaaammeee kmows vi wayyyy_ "

The searcher left the room and beckoned the animator to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The power of friendship is contagious and especially can't be stopped when cartoon physics are the norm of the world.


	8. Scooby doo team but it's four furries and a demon. + Heated gamer moments

As soon as the phone went dead, the ink demon started to quiver in fear.

**" _ᴶᵒᵉʸ'ˢ ᵍᵒⁿⁿᵃ ᵏᶦˡˡ ᵐᵉ..._ "**

"Huh?"

 **"JOEY'S GONNA _*@ &!ING KILL ME! WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOOOOOOOO!_" **The creature sobbed into his mis-matched hands **"H-he probably** _*sniffle*_ **heard everything! I'm screwed! _you're_ screwed! WE ARE ALL SO *!&#ING SCREWED!"**

Boris couldn't believe his eyes at the sight before him, The big bad ink demon, the creature _everybody_ in the studio feared, bawling his eyes out on the floor like a baby. He actually reached out to comfort the demon but quickly drew his hand back when his glove started to melt a bit by merely touching the creature.

"There, there..." Noelle awkwardly patted the weeping demon on the shoulder. "He can't hold us in here forever."

 **"Yes he can!"** He retorted through tears. **"In this world, the** _*hic*_ **Director controls everything! From the biggest 'props' to the smallest 'actor'... We all either have to do what he says, or he'll twist us into doing it!"** The demon hugged his knees to himself. **"You heard what he did to make your siblings and their friend listen to him! _ᴵ ᵇᵉᵗ ʰᵉ ᵇˡᵒᶜᵏᵉᵈ ᵒᶠᶠ ᵃˡˡ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉˣᶦᵗˢ ᵗᵒᵒ.._ _._ "**

The wolf looked at the demon with pity as he wondered what to do before snapping his fingers as he had an idea. He gently tapped the fallen villain's shoulder with the wooden spoon he took and gestured for the group to follow him.

\---

Maybe it was a bad idea of the wolf to lead the ink demon right to his little safe house, but he couldn't deny his soft spot for those who were as scared and helpless in this strange, scary world as he was. Although now he was slightly regretting it as he realized that even if this wasn't a trap, he had still let the creature who hunted him down for sport right to his home. A twisted being that he knew had shown no remorse or mercy, not even to his own loyal followers.

He had to keep reminding himself of the Ink Demon's true nature as the creature cried throughout explaining everything: the loops, the script, Joey's fury and more. He wasn't against hearing the demon speak, but too many people down here "cried wolf" for him to just believe him. Although the wolf couldn't deny that he felt something inside him stir a bit when the Demon mentioned something about a lost one that he kept calling "Dot".

Boris nervously tapped his fingers against his soup can in anticipation as he glanced to his new companions and back to the notorious Ink Demon after he finished his spiel. The reindeer was stirring her own can of soup, the bird was trying to bury his beak in a book but kept drifting off every five minutes before he snapped himself awake, both of them were in the other room pretending not to be eavesdropping while the goat monster was giving the ink demon an icy (but not angry) stare that the wolf was glad wasn't directed at him. Said demon sheepishly fidgeted in his seat and looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Asriel sighed and spoke up.

"So let me get this straight, you could've let everybody out whenever Joey had his back turned, you had _multiple_ chances to free everybody but decided not to because 'misery loves company', and my siblings, _who you also could've saved at any time you wanted but chose not to because you were bored_ are in grave danger because they will slowly but surely be consumed by ink made out of thousands of dead ground up demons and human souls."

**"Well, when you put it that way it makes me sound unbelievably selfish and cruel... And you know what, you're also leaving out the fact that I have a certain piece of $#*! breathing down my back 24/7! Do you think that I _could_ save anyone when Mr. 'I own thousands of souls but throw a tantrum whenever one of them breaks apart from the stress I cause' can and will notice a single person gone?! The only reason why I offered an escape is because I thought he was too focused on your siblings to notice me trying to sneak people out and it's getting too dangerous for me to stick to the script."**

"Can you take us back to Joey? If he's the cause of all of this, then we might be able to convince him to stop, to set everyone free."

 **"ARE YOU COMPLETELY** ** _CRAZY?!_** **"** The demon gawked. **"EVEN IF *I* THROW EVERYTHING ASIDE, SPIT ON ANY REMAINING CHANCE I HAVE TO GET MY DAD TO LOVE ME FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, AND PUSH MYSELF INTO A 'HERO' ROLE, WE. WILL. FAIL! Besides, now that he has your siblings and Susie as the audience now, I doubt he'll give a single @$%! about what happens to all of you, and what makes you think he'll want to talk if he can't get anything out of it?"**

"Didn't you say that when my siblings came down, it felt like the very rules of the world were changed?"

**"Well, not _entirely_ , but there was a #*!! of a shift..."**

"That's how we know we can stop him. Joey..." Asriel felt a lump in his throat. "...Joey's the Flowey of this underground except, he won. He won so much that he got bored of winning and drove himself crazy trying to find a 'good ending' without even bothering to change his ways for it. Or to let anybody else find that 'good end'."

 **"I think I see where this spiel is gonna go: 'but he's not the only one who's determining the story anymore', power of friendship™️, 'we just need to** _✨ **believe** ✨_ **in hopes and dreams', yadda, yadda, yadda... I know you technically can't help it because your last name is literally a misspelling of 'Dreamer', but if you genuinely want me to have faith in you, your team of furries, and your harebrained scheme to beat Joey's @$$ and save your family, you're gonna need a lot more to convince me than just spouting out the same slop Joey has sloshed out for decades now."**

"How about this to convince you:" The goat monster held out his paw and a rainbow flame lit up in his palm. "Joey can't stop me from burning his "stage" down. You get to decide whether I burn down the entire place looking for a way back to his apartment or you lead us to the nearest way there."

**"Okay, Okay, yeesh! C'mon John Wick, lets go."**

The Ink Demon had grabbed Asriel's hand (the one that wasn't on fire) and started to phase through the wall before shuddering violently and rushing back into the room.

**"Bad news: as it turns out, Joey threw a certain prophet of mine into the puddles and now I can't travel through the ink without Sammy knowing and boy is he @!$%ing _angry_ at me!"**

Boris held up a handful of candles and a mask.

**"Summon him out of there? Pffft. Yeah, because having the vengeful spirit of the spiteful music director who could possibly be either possessed by or fused with a demon prince of _wrath_ into this place is totally a smart idea that won't backfire. Buddy! He believe it or not, it only took half of him to kick my @$$ into next century _and he had fun with every second he had with me..._ "**

Boris sheepishly lowered the candles and mask. Then he snapped his fingers, took out a toolbox, opened it up, took the handle inside it and fixed up the door.

**"Go down the normal story's path? No thank you, I'm not doing that sorry excuse for an angel any favors."**

The wolf gave the demon an annoyed look, shrugged, and gestured to the door as if to say "Well, do you have any better ideas?"

**"Ugh... FINE! (I am NOT looking forward to going back into there...) Well nerds, are you coming too or are you gonna keep Boris company while we're gone?"**

The bird monster and the reindeer looked at each other then back to the demon. Berdly cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Logically, this is the only way isn't it? I mean, staying here will split up the group and that only gives _him_ more chances to pick us off one by one."

Noelle nodded solemnly.

The demon opened the formerly broken door, revealing a room lined with soup cans and soup vending machines that made way to a Miracle station at the end.

"The path ahead looks pretty dark..."

**"Oh right, you guys need light to see stuff... Here we go!"**

The demon picked up a flashlight on the desk.

 **"Here, have the annoying, light-up thing that Sammy carries around sometime- Wait a minute..."** The Ink Demon sniffed the bulking flashlight and turned to face Boris **"This thing even _smells_ like him! Sammy hangs out with _you_ whenever he's not serving me?! Really?!"**

The wolf responded in a very unusual manner; by blowing a raspberry at The Ink Demon. If you would've told him that very morning that he'd do that, he wouldn't have believed you!

 **"Well I _never!_ " **The demon scoffed. **"I can't believe that I risk everything to join the good guy's side, and I'm being rewarded by being insulted like thi- HEY! Don't leave us behind just because you have fire powers!"**

* * *

"What the fuck happened to Sammy?"

"That's what he normally looks like ...I think."

"Really?! Didn't expect 'serial killer's mannequin art project' to be his glow-up."

*You politely tell Kris and Susie to shut up so you don't die while swinging the ax into searchers.

\---

" _Everything feels like it's coming apart. When I walked into the recording booth today, Sammy was there with that... Allison. Apparently, I didn't get the memo. Alice Angel will now be voiced by Miss Allison Pendle. A part of me died when he said that. There's gotta be a way to fix this!"_

"...Damn, with all the scary lighting, chores, and evil speeches it's easy to sweep the fact that she was just some unlucky voice actress who had her heart broken by her shitty boss under the rug. I don't think she wanted this, I don't think she wanted any of this..."

*You do not talk as you have your mouth full.

"I mean, I'd also not want to live as a half-melted version of a cartoon character I played at my old job but-Oh Fuck, here come Bendy again!"

"SONNUVABITCH!"

\---

"Who's turn is it again?"

*You ask Kris if they're asking this because they're stuck at the fair's mini games.

"Hey! those things are rigged and evil and you know it!"

"You know what weirds me out? How come Henry won't cheat on the games in game? I mean, when your best friend's in danger and you already know that time is running against you, would you risk precious seconds you have on some stupid shoot-'em'up game or would you just take the nearest ax and plow the damned haunted house doors down?"

"Because Joey hates Henry and wants him and his wolf son to suffer. Hence, the rigged AF games and the shitty quality of the axes."

...

*You play a sad song on the kazoo for Norman's death.

"Pick up the projector, dammit! I wanna throw something heavy at Alice when we see her!"

"If this game ran on Portal mechanics and let us pick things up, rotate them around and throw them whenever you can bet I'm going to hold a fucking tape recorder and carry it around with me everyone in the damned studio."

*'It's free companion cube.'

"Did you just-"

\---

"Sweet! free food!"

Tom knocked the bowl over.

"Alright Mr. Robot arm dog guy, If I ever see you in person, I am going to punch you in the face so hard you go from a wolf to a pug."

...

_"I'm going to free YOU now... Free your head from your shoulders! Sheep sheep sheep... It's time for ...sleep."_

**_WHACK_ **

*You think this is why Sammy doesn't like Tom all that much...

"Oh come on don't make us fight the entire village too! Those guys are cool! And Bandage guy could be in there!"

"This is the longest and most tedious swarm of enemies I've ever slogged through and now I hate these people even more than I already do."

\---

"I know I've seen it in person with my own eyes but I have to repeat what everyone's already thought before and say that this man has the ugliest home I've ever seen, and I live in a literal dump."

"Five bucks says this fucker's kitchen is carpeted."

"You owe me five bucks, it's shitty looking tile, but it's tile."

"Or is it a tile-patterned carpet?"

_"Henry? So Soon? I didn't expect you for another hour yet."_

"And we didn't expected to be kidnapped and forced into a different dimension to play a video game version of the prison you've trapped god knows how many people in _but here we are!_ "

_"Now you're just trying to impress me. But I know... I know... ...you have questions. You always do! The only important question is this: Who are we Henry?"_

"No, the only important question is how the fuck do you justify any of this shit to anyone? And why the fuck won't you let anyone out?"

_"I thought I knew who I was... ...but... the success starved me. Nothing left but lines on a page."_

"God I wish that was real."

_"In the end, we followed two different roads of our own making. You, a lovely family... Me, a crooked empire. And my road burned. I let our creations become my life. The truth is, you were always so good at pushing old friend... ...pushing me to do the right thing. You should have pushed a little harder."_

"No, because we're not your fucking parents you fugly little baby man. Take responsibility like a fucking adult."

_"Henry. Come visit the old workshop... There's something I need to show you."_

_"Alright Joey I'm here, let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see."_

"The... The fuck?! Is this really how it's supposed to end?! Is this really how the story is supposed to play out? What a fucking cop out!"

"I know, right? The story sucks..."

The building rumbled ominously again.

"OH FUCK OFF, YOU'RE A SHITTY WRITER AND A SHITTIER FRIEND!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henry's route might be more quiet than he was expecting it to be, which is good because we all know how Jack loves the quiet.


	9. Errands are boring but necessary

Searchers didn't come to attack him during the 'escape' which was expected as one of them was leading him. But what Henry didn't expect was that the Ink Demon didn't come around either. He didn't mind the much more quiet and leisurely stroll through the studio, although he partly wondered where all of the threats went. After all, if playing his old friend's game for years(?) had taught him anything, it was that he liked to keep him on his toes and that he was cold and remorseless in how he did it.

Jack opened the door that usually was guarded by the ink demon, revealing not sunlight and freedom as he had hoped, but another pathway down to the deep bowels of the studio. He figured as much, escape could never be that easy. And at this point, when he knew that Boris was still stuck somewhere in here, he doubted it would sit well with his conscience to leave this place while the poor little wolf faced the horrors of the studio alone.

Speaking of which, how was he now?

Henry clearly wasn't going to cross paths with the cartoon lupine anytime soon if the current path had anything to say about it, but would Boris be safe? Did the demon's current lack of interest in him mean that he was chasing the wolf down as he followed Jack?

" _RRrree yoOoouu okaaaaayyy?_ "

"I'm fine Jack, I'm just ...worried about a friend of mine."

The lyricist gave his companion an understanding nod before stopping to catch his breath. Due to his swollen body and lack of legs, the searcher rarely left the ink-flooded sewers as dragging himself around was a pain. In this state, thinking was also a pain and he didn't know why or how his mind hadn't gone completely back into the puddles yet, but as long as whatever force that kept him sane enough to know what to do to escape was still here, he'd power through it. But god did he need some good coffee by about now, maybe he'd ask Henry for some after Sammy helps them escape.

"So... Where is Sammy?"

" _Gooonneeee nooooww, but ryyyforrrms baaaaak en thi villlage._ "

"And by the time we get there, he'll be there?"

The searcher shrugged.

" _Wheen he's noooot yn theeeee music rouuums, he's dowwwn there. Weee'lll cyeee heeem again eveeentualllly._ "

\---

As they continued on their path, the animator and the lyricist's surroundings turned into an array of ink-filled hallways that haven't had people in them in a long time, yet still had the never ending loops of cartoon clips playing. Jack practically sped through the hallways, the ink greatly improving his mobility and the chilling realization on where he had lead Henry motivating him to get them out of there faster, only pausing to turn around and make sure that the animator was still following him.

During one of these pauses, Jack shrieked in fear as he saw the reaper toon pick up an inky heart.

" _NOO! NNOOO! NO!_ " The searcher called out as he fruitlessly tried to get the reaper to but down the heart. " _THAT'S THE PROJECTIONIST'S! PUT IT DOWN BEFORE HE CATCHES YOU WITH IT!_ "

"I know, but Susie needs this too."

Jack paused for a moment, quickly looking around to make sure that the projector-headed monster didn't notice them yet, and then slunk down with a curious expression.

"Susie's still down here? I thought Allison took her out years ago."

"Yeah, Susie's still somewhere in there."

"As an afterthought, maybe." The searcher gave a doubtful look. "If it was Sammy and _just_ Sammy who warned me about this 'angel' then I'd buy it. But every time someone goes out of their way to come to the infirmary, more often than not, it's because they narrowly escaped a _pardon my_ _language,_ certain two-faced broad. She didn't earn her reputation by sitting around and looking pretty, that's for sure..."

"That twisted Alice does have a tight grip on her." Henry agreed. "But I think I know how to get her out too. But first, I'm going to need to run a few errands..."

He knew the song and dance by now and didn't have the time to sit through a jump scare, taunting from Alice, and a monologue.

"What _kind_ of errands? I think I might be able to help."

"Mostly gathering her things, breaking the cutouts, things like that."

"I see, and one of those things she needs is ink?"

"Unfortunately. Do you mind..."

"As long as nobody jams some giant needle into me, then I don't mind at all." the searcher chuckled.

Henry sighed in relief and began gathering the remaining hearts, no Norman in sight.

\---

Although he had wanted to enjoy the more peaceful run, it was far too quiet for comfort.

The ink heart gathering? The Projectionist didn't show up once. Getting thick ink? Easy with Jack's help, which Henry did end up needing as the regular swollen searchers didn't show up in their usual spots. Breaking the cutouts? The Ink Demon didn't show up once. Getting the power cores? There was a striker, but he fled at the sight of him, dropping the stolen item in the process. Getting the gears? The piper that had the last gear played dead as he took it from him.

Henry partly regretted not encountering Alice first so that she could make snarky remarks as he did the tasks. Maybe this was how Joey wanted to punish him for going against his script: by taking out every single other 'actor' so he wouldn't try to befriend them too.

" **How ...Interesting.** " The Angel cooed over the intercom, instantly disproving his theory. " **I think I had some errands I needed to do, but you two did them for me! Well, most of them. Tell you what; I'll help you ascend... in exchange for one more teeny tiny little favor.** "

In spite of his relief that he and Jack weren't the only ones down here, Henry frowned to himself. He could've sworn that he did everything! What task was he missing- Oh. Right, the one where he'd have to fight off the butchered gang clones and searchers. 

" **Come to me now, Level nine. Just follow the screams.** "

Henry had walked to the elevator but was stopped by Jack grabbing his free arm.

"Are you sure about this?" Jack gave Henry a concerned look. "I can't sugar coat it; this woman has killed everything that's even a little bit weaker than her. A lot of us searchers agree that she's no better than the ink demon. And pretty much every lost one thinks she's worse than he is!"

"I know. I've even seen a lot of Alice's 'projects' myself."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because it's what _Susie_ deserves."

* * *

Joey gave up.

Not entirely of course, just because he had two dud shows in a row didn't mean he was a goner, especially now that he has the audience stuck watching reruns. But he couldn't even stand to look at Henry at that moment. Not only was he betraying him; his best friend, but he was betraying him for _them!_ those insufferable little bastards who stood between him and their dreams! Those lazy, good for nothing whiners had been their downfall, and now Henry was siding with them?!

It filled him with disgust.

Thankfully, he had another problem to focus on: the unneeded audience members. Yes, like an unnecessary lamp that cost too much, he had to get rid of those pests.

He sighed at the sight of his failed creation helping the remaining audience and Boris escape. He groaned as he watched the three "oooo" and "aaah" at the quote-unquote marvel of a toy workshop. He hated this place perhaps most of all. It was nothing but a drain, the only thing those damned toys were good for was keeping the prize counters at Bendy Land fully stocked. And even then, what's the point of keeping those things stocked with prizes that nobody wanted?

God he hated that Angel, that menace 'sent from above' had single-handedly damned his studio. If Henry had stayed and gave her that special touch that he gave the other two, maybe then she could've been something other than a disappointment. Maybe if he stayed, this never would've happened. But, Henry and that twisted Alice Angel with her futile attempts to fix her failures weren't his targets at the moment. No, if his abomination of a first draft took time to help those troublemakers where he should've been stewing in his guilt, then clearly he's been putting off the Demon's punishment long enough.

"If you want to be a hero so badly, it's fine with me..." The old animator scoffed as he hobbled out of the Ink Machine's room to go back to his old drawing desk. "But don't come crawling back to my side after you realize that your 'change of heart' will be your downfall."

Hmm... A change of heart... Change... That's it! Joey now knew exactly what he'd do to the demon to punish it for stepping so strongly out of line. The man watched and waited diligently as the group discussed whether to go through the Angel path or the Demon path, and had a large chuck of metal debris fall from the ceiling, forcibly separating the team; Noelle, Boris, and Inky on the Demon's path, and Asriel and Berdly on the Angel's path.

He smiled at his handiwork as the split groups rightfully freaked out, especially when the Demon could no longer phase through the walls and the Goat prince's fire didn't even make as much as a dent. All of them so focused on their situation to notice that the ink in the demon's path was slowly creeping up Bendy's leg, slowly but surely changing him into something he was supposed to be a long time ago. It was far too late for that smiling piece of crap and even now Joey knew it would never be perfect no matter how hard he tried, but he knew it could come a hell of a lot closer with a little push...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey here's a neat little surprise: I've been working on an [ask blog](https://ask--en-y-and-the-dreemurr-team.tumblr.com//) for this au of mine! Feel free to check it out! (although keep in mind it's still a work in progress ^^;) Edit: changed the link as I have changed the Blog's URL.


	10. Angel path's Amazing miracles.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! ALL THAT HARD WORK AND MURDER TO MAKE EVERYTHING A BUNCH OF SHADES OF GREY?!"

Susie threw her controller at the TV in frustration, breaking it temporary before it started to repair itself. The game itself was still open and had been reset to the 'first level'.

"FUCK YOU AND YOUR UNDERWHELMING REWARD SYSTEM, JACKASS!"

"What the fuck was up with all the orange flashback things going on?"

*You shrug.

\---

"I'm starting to think that Joey just wants us to stay here and play this game until we all die of boredom."

*You nod in agreement.

"What do you think happens if we try to change the channel?"

"I don't know... Maybe it changes back to the game?"

*Change the channel?

*❤Yes.

*You change the channel, it's playing a Bendy cartoon short. *Specifically, it's playing 'Snow Sillies'.

"Huh."

"Figures..."

\---

"I'm going to go make dinner, any suggestions?"

"Wait, what, it's that late already?"

"Susie, it's 3 am."

"Weird, because either it's been one or two full days or time doesn't move anymore because I got here at around 3 am."

*You ask if this is technically breakfast.

"Dinner, breakfast, whatever. It's food. I'm making food."

\---

Around a half hour later when the trio were happily chowing down on miniature chocolate pies, leftover sandwiches left in the fridge, and breakfast sausages, the landline phone started to ring off the hook. Literally, it rang so hard that it picked itself up.

"Hello?! Hello?! Is anyone there?! Please tell me someone can hear me!"

It was a woman's voice, one that none of the trio recognized, but didn't plan to leave hanging.

"...Hello from the bizarre prison pocket dimension that is eerily similar to my house, Kris speaking."

"Oh thank god." The frantic voice let out a short lived sigh of relief. "Listen, I don't have much time, Joey might check in any second now: Throw the TV out the window and grab tightly onto the cable attached to it, tie yourselves to it first if you have to, but whatever you do, DON'T LET GO OF IT UNTIL YOU SEE THE STUDIO AGAIN. Trust me, it ...didn't end well for Joey's last 'niece' when she let go too soon..."

"Got it! And where should we go to meet you?"

"I... don't know. The village, maybe? It's safe as long as the false angel and her attack wolf don't show up. And don't go there on a boat with a motor, those freak Miriam out."

"The Not-Monster town?"

"...Yeah sure, that place. We'll talk more if- when you show up. I'm the Lost One with an ax, a belt, and a filled-in notepad."

"And your name is?"

There was a brief hesitation where the speaker backed away from the phone to talk to herself, but not far away enough for her to go unheard.

" _Fuck, I don't have one- wait, the Ink Demon keeps calling me things like 'Dottie' and 'Polka-dots' and it never seems to lie about nick-names..._ "

The Lost One then returned to the phone. 

"You can call me Dot."

"Alright Dot, meet you there."

Kris turned to face Susie and Frisk, who where currently stuffing the latter's backpack with snacks.

"Okay, so who's ready to get tied to our TV and thrown out the window?"

*You raise your hand.

"Hell yeah I am! Let's go kick some Walt Disney wannabe's ass!"

With newfound vigor, the three unplugged the TV, tied themselves up with it's wires and cables, and flung the heavy thing out the nearest window, their cables swiftly pulling them along and dragging them down an endless inky abyss.

*As you fall, you look back to 'your house'...

*You swear you can see the outside and inside of the building being rapidly ripped apart as if it was made out of paper.

" _FUCK!_ "

"Susie?! What's wrong?!"

*As you look back down, you can see your cable coming undone and the TV screen cracking. *You quickly retie yourself before you come completely undone. *Susie is currently gripping tightly to the TV itself.

"LOOK FOR YOURSELF! THE TV IS-"

*The TV breaks in half and you squeeze your eyes shut tightly as everything fades to a blinding white.

* * *

" _I did NOT sign up for this!_ " Berdly angrily muttered to himself as he followed Asriel. " _I just wanted those two dragged back home, I just wanted to not have to spend every night laying awake worrying whether or not things would get even worse than they already are, I just wanted my life to be stable again. I did NOT agree to get dragged into this crazy, cartoonish, pocket dimension that's filled with too much ink and is clearly unsafe and the last possible thing I ever wanted to happen down here, just fucking happened!_ "

Asriel had been rolling his eyes for the past five minutes as he continued to say nothing about Berdly's ongoing rant, he just hoped that the two paths would collide soon as the Ink Demon tried to reassure them that it would.

" _And of course we couldn't call the police like I suggested, oh no, we just HAD to go in there alone without telling our parents, or our friends, or ANYONE because 'JOEy aSKEd US not to BecAUse HiS pOOr Old hEArt CaN't hANDlE ThE sTRess Of GETtiNG aNyOnE OTher thAN A GROuP Of TwO teens ANd a pRince iNvoLVeD In tHIS' Even though to anyone who has more than one brain cell and isn't spineless, wanting to get vulnerable people to come alone without anyone knowing where you're going is a MAJOR red flag to most people!_"

"Berdly! I get it!" Asriel snapped back to the still grumpy but now also nervous bird monster, he sighed in frustration before continuing. "In hindsight, it was stupid to just go after Joey without making a plan, I thought he was being genuine about wanting to tell us about where my siblings went and didn't think that an old man with a damaged soul and a bad leg could be _this_ dangerous. But thinking in hindsight isn't going to make my siblings fall out of the sky-"

**_*CRASH!*_ **

The two monsters flinched at the loud sound before turning to face where it came from, and both of their jaws dropped in shock at the sight of it; Asriel's siblings, suspended in mid-air by television cables, the television they were attached to broken in half and wedged between the ceiling's boards, the pair were covered in splotches of ink, Frisk was missing a sweater sleeve, Kris had a creepy mask on their head, but neither of them looked like they were hurt.

" _KRIS! FRISK!_ "

Asriel broke out of the shock sooner than Berdly did and immediately began rushing towards them. But the bird monster did follow close behind.

"Azzy? What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"WE SHOULD BE ASKING THAT TO YOU TWO!" Berdly spat as he flew up to the TV and started to use the two's cables to lower them safely to the ground. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW GUT-WRENCHINGLY ANXIOUS EVERYBODY WAS?! YOU BOTH DISAPPEARED WITHOUT WARNING OR ANYTHING!"

*You ask Berdly how long you and Kris have been gone.

"Roughly around a month by now," The student's expression softened a bit in both curiosity and worry. "...how long do you two think you've been here?"

"I don't know. You know how time can feel like it's bleeding into each other? Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow all mixing together? Time feels like that right now. ...Fuck, Mom's probably so worried sick..."

As soon as the two were on the ground, Asriel swept Frisk up into a tight hug and then gave Kris an affectionate head-butt as they hate being hugged.

"I was also worried sick about you two idiots!"

"Yeah, sorry bro but it wasn't like we planned for this to happen."

"Seriously though, why on earth would you be in this... hellish ink dump in the first place?!" Berdly remarked " _We_ came here to save _you_ but I don't see any reason why you'd come here at all!"

"I'm around... 83 percent sure it started off as a failed kidnapping on Joey's part, but now it's a rescue mission: We're not leaving until we break everybody out of this fucked-up story limbo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Susie Deltarune Campbell's fine, she just ends up on the demon's path.


	11. Demon path's Delightful makeovers

Nobody liked slogging through the Demon's path, not even the one who had it named in his honor, but for different reasons than the other two. *Cough, cough* _Daddy issues_ *Cough, cough*

As for the other two's reasons... well... There's no nice way to say it: ink smells absolutely awful, it reeks of decay, of alcohol, of what good god-fearing folks would imagine the devil's foul breath smells like. Especially in large room-flooding quantities a trait which Boris hated as he had the misfortune of having a very keen nose and Noelle strongly disliked as she was not used to it. Nobody could run through the stuff as it practically clung to their legs like glue, which made the skittish wolf and deer feel even more unsafe than they already were. And while the pair were trying to internally convince themselves that they didn't feel anything in the ink, they couldn't deny that they felt long, cold fingers feeling and occasionally grabbing their ankles as if blindly searching for something.

But as there was no other path to take, the toon wolf and the deer monster trudged through the ink in nervous silence. Noelle couldn't think of any fun icebreaker questions when her mind was too busy racing with all the different terrible ways that she could die in the studio while her mother, siblings, and friends never find out. Even if Boris could speak, he was too busy whimpering in fear at his surroundings that he swore were getting darker and darker around him. Sensing the tension in the strangely never-ending room, the Ink Demon set to break it with the only non-violent or intentionally malicious way he knew how: mildly annoying bad comedy.

**" _Bleeeeck!_ the Ink's being even worse than usual this run!"**

The demon lightheartedly complained as he pulled his 'bad' leg out of the ink and rested it on a nearby crate. He shuddered as he heard it make an unmistakable * _Clack*_ of metal on wood when his foot met the crate, but he didn't bring any attention to it in favor of continuing his 'skit'.

**"And I swear that the demon path's usually not this long! I mean, I almost never come here, but on the rare occasions that I do, it's at least somewhat presentable. ...Granted, to Mr. Dreams-come-true up there, "presentable" is a bar set so low it trips the devil himself when he's not watching his step! I mean, you've _seen_ that guy's apartment, right? Even _I_ could do better at interior design and I can't even %@!#ing see!"**

"...I'll take your word for it."

**"Speaking of words can you believe that that guy up there wrote an entire book all about himself? I've had Sammy read it to me before and oh boy, if he fudged the details on everything any more than he already did, that book would be nothing but a bad batch of brownies!"**

The deer monster walked a little bit faster than she did before, Boris followed close behind. While Noelle didn't mind the demon's attempt to break the silence it simply didn't feel like the time or place to joke around. But to the demon, her reply felt like proof that was time to change tactics.

**"...Jeez, tough crowd..."**

_**(Okay** **me,)** _

The demon thought to himself as he followed them while trying hard not to think about the fact that while it was easier for him to walk, it was harder for him to keep up with the pair. He brushed it off as the hands of those stuck in the ink pulling on his legs as they do to all who wade through their pools, but couldn't shake the feeling that while he was walking he was being dragged downward.

_**(Something's happening to me and it's wrong- No! don't think about that! It's not important right now. What you should be focusing on is that you're one of the good guys this run and that means you have to do good guy things like making sure those two don't die from heart attacks in here. Comedy didn't work so what else should you try? Using your awesome powers to break this room to pieces? Nah, that'll scare the pants off of both of them... Hugs? No, that will melt one and gross out/scare the other one... Wait, there's that nice talky thing that Frisk and Sammy do to make miserable shmucks be less sad and also like being with them! What's the word for it? Re- Ash sure? Yeah! Reassure! That's it!)** _

**"Hey, if it helps you two get the jitters out your bones;** **Judging by the lack of a jack@$$-in-the-box jumping out at us in the Radio room and the fact that the "Angel" isn't mocking us over the speaker system can only mean one thing: The star of the show already cleared out the big bad &!^%#, and I'm pretty sure Joey only stretched the path out this long because he's just stalling for time right now; fixing up the elevator again and stuff like that. So all we have to do is slog through this perfectly safe but boring, dark, smelly hallway that absolutely nothing too exciting will ever happen-"**

*** _CRASH!*_**

****The monster and the two ink creatures flinched at the loud noise before Boris turned his light to face where it had come from. The Ink demon couldn't see what it was, he could only make out vague shapes in front of him while he adjusted his eyes on it. The wolf tilted his head in confusion at the sight of the strange scene, and the deer's eyes practically lit up at the sight of it; Right there, suspended in midair by television cables and keeping the light out of her face with her ratty, ink-stained sleeve was Noelle's ~~crush~~ fellow classmate who she could fully trust. Someone who she knew could keep her safe, like a guardian angel who'd rip the face off of any creep who'd dare even look at them funny. (No offence to the ink demon or Boris, but Noelle had literally only known them for a few hours at most while she knew Susie for years now, even if she didn't know her as closely as she'd like.)

_"SUSIE!"_

Using her winter magic, Noelle made a staircase to Susie out of black ice. She jumped up it with ease and quickly got to work on untying her fellow classmate.

"No..elle? what are you doing here?"

"The same thing you're doing here I think... Joey lied to us."

"Yes and no. They're here, but he's not letting anyone go without a fight."

**"Well, if I'm not auditorily hallucinating right now, if it's a fight he wants then too bad because he's getting an angry mob instead!"**

The lizard monster gave a confused and suspicious look to the demon.

"...Okay... So you're working with us, I guess..."

Boris nodded and shrugged, then gestured to the demon and made the 'coo-coo' gesture, unintentionally shining his flashlight in the demon's face in the process.

**"Ack! Boris! get that annoying light out of my eyes!"**

The wolf instead gawked at the demon. Where there was once a towering, grinning creature who struck fear into every being in the studio, there was a tiny, mouthless imp that looked (almost) on par with it's cartoon counterpart. All somebody needed to do to perfect him would be to paint that famed grin on his face.

"Uh, **Heeeeellllooo?"** the demon waved his hands in front of Boris. **"Anybody in... ₜₕₑᵣₑ..?"**

Now it was the imp's turn to gawk, he stared down at his trembling, matching, four-fingered, gloved hands. Hands that once upon a time, he always dreamed of having before his hope in becoming Bendy instead of 'Bendy' turned to hate.

He felt a giant slew of emotions all piling on him at once as his thoughts buzzed in his brain to the point they felt like static. He felt tears prickling up in the corners of eyes he knew he had but wasn't supposed to have, his breath was getting faster and shallower with each inhale he took, his stomach was twisting and churning in disgust and fear, he saw his heart pump so quickly it was like it was trying to escape his body, (not that he could blame it, he didn't want to be in it either.), it was weird seeing Sammy in that form but he could handle it, he could laugh it off, he could endure seeing someone else becoming 'perfect' if it meant that he didn't have to try to be Bendy anymore. But this? He just couldn't take it.

"...Bendy?"

"Are you okay little guy?"

The demon took a shaky step back from the group. The concerned-looking trio who looked like they now feared for his safety instead of being afraid of him.

"...No... THis can't be... No... No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No this shouldn't be happening... No No No No No No No No No No No No I'm not supposed to... No No No No No No No No No No No He can't do this to me _now_... NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO _THIS IS JUST A DREAM!_ NO NO NO NO NO _NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO HE CAN'T DO THIS TO ME AFTER EVERYTHING HE TOLD ME! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO **NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NON̷̡͟ON̵͘ONǪ̵N̡̨ON̨͘O̵͞Ņ̕͢ON̷O̢̡N̴̢O҉͝N̡O̸͏N̡O͜NO̡͟͞N͏̸O̢͞N͝O͜͠N̨̛Ǫ̵N̸̵͡O̡̕͝N͘҉̧O͘NO̕N͝O̢N̴O̵N̛͘͝O҉̴Ņ̶Ǫ̵NO҉͏N̶O͘͘NO҉͢NO̶N͞͝O̢NONƠ̴͝N̕͝͠Ǫ͘̕NO̢͠!!!!"**_

The three also backed away from him, watching in horror as the little imp's head began to split open, revealing that it was filled with lots of sharp teeth.

* * *

" **Come on, step out of your cage. There's a whole _twisted_ world out there. _And lots of fun ways to watch it warp things even further..._** "

She chuckled as the elevator descended to level nine. Henry did not respond to her comments while Jack cowered behind Henry, and hesitated as the elevator doors creaked open.

"I-I think we should turn back... Not forever per say, but we could use some space away from her to think of a proper plan..."

As the searcher was just about to punch in a different level number, a loud crash echoed from just above them, followed by an unholy, long, bone-chilling shriek that shook the entire building. Even Henry and the twisted angel herself were unnerved by it.

"On second thought." The searcher clung to the reaper's robes. "I'd rather deal with the worse case scenario getting sent to the puddles by her than deal with whatever's up there..."

"Good call."

Henry agreed as he went down the stairs with some difficulty due to Jack not letting go of his cloak.

" **If you two could hurry up, it would be _greatly appreciated_. It seems that my little task might need to be done sooner than I thought.**"

The former lyricist sheepishly let go of the reaper's robes and followed closely behind. Still looking back every few moments to make sure that the elevator stayed right where it was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Malice saw what happened to Inky, she'd laugh, but the joke becomes less funny to her when she becomes the butt of it.


	12. Henry to Alice: Fuck you, *Unbutchers your gang.*

It had been a strange and eventful morning for Susie and Malice both.

Starting off the day with the Projectionist apparently wandering way too far from his usual stomping grounds, the twisted angel frantically flipped through every camera screen she had trying to find her old friend, only to instead discover clusters of new flies that flew into her web. A group of odd but very convenient clusters. The first pair that flew in; the toon reaper and the oddly sentient searcher had been so kind as to do her chores for her, already making their way to the drop box to deposit the coveted collectibles. While the others...

Susie couldn't describe the sudden, deep sensation of guilt and shame she felt as she looked at the two human children who had crash-landed into the Angel path's room. She knew for a fact that she didn't know the pair at all, but she felt like she did and had put them through something awful.

Maybe it was because of the Bendy-like mask that the older kid was wearing. It was identical to Sammy's mask, and god did she put HIM through the wringer whenever Malice caught him. In her mind's roommate's eyes, the only thing the man was any good for now was either a torture method test dummy and a source of very strong thick ink. (Which she rarely used on herself due to some... 'interesting' side effects that she learned about the hard way, but collected anyway to use on some of her projects.)

Malice on the other hand, looked at the bizarrely realistically drawn animal toons with a mixture of confusion, caution and excitement. Who were they? Obviously not mere background or one-off characters as Joey wouldn't dare go through all the trouble of bringing them to life if they were. So why had she never seen or heard of them before? She was Alice Angel! One of the three most important characters in the entire darn shebang! Why could she remember practically everybody everybody in the show and comics, but not the bird, reindeer, and goat? And most importantly, what should she harvest from them to get her perfection?

Feeling something in her gut, she flipped the screens channel back to where the two paths rejoined into one. Wait a second, was that a _perfect Bendy_ riding on the perfect Boris's shoulders? ...And another odd animal toon who she did not recognize? Oh this was just her lucky day wasn't it? She hadn't seen that blasted prophet all day nor heard his stupid bell chime ~~that she could recall~~ , a pair of helpful ink creatures were fetching her things for her, and now, an entire buffet of new toons were just wandering into her lair, ready to be killed and harvested.

Today was the day she'd finally become perfect! She could feel it! ...Sure, there was still that hanging sense of unease that she felt from the unknown creature's screech, but she could deal with it some other time. For now, she'd just sit back and watch everything fall _perfectly_ into place.

" **So close my little errand boys...** " she cooed over the intercom. " **So close to salvation... yet so far.** "

They didn't respond to her, but that little searcher pal of the reaper toon had grabbed the reaper's hand while shuddering violently. A pathetic scene on display, really, she'd be doing the former lyricist a favor by cutting him down and taking the thick ink stuck to his repulsive body-

" _NO!_ "

Malice turned off the mic.

" **'No?' Susie, it's not even _Jack_ anymore, just a smelly, cowardly lump of ink with a hat.**"

"He _spoke!_ he shows emotion! he can _Think!_ Alice... I don't want to do this to them, to any of them!"

The fallen angel rolled her eyes at the voice actress, this was far from the first time she complained, but she'd give up eventually, she always does. She turned the mic back on and told the pair about her last chore.

" **All you need to do is to take care of my little pest problem...** "

The searchers and butchered gang members sprouted up out of the ink and around the pair like vicious, evil daisies.

" **Destroy** **them!** " "No..." " ** _Splatter them all over the walls!_** " "Alice, please..." " ** _MAKE THESE DISGUSTING FREAKS REGRET EVER BEING BORN OUT OF THE MACHINE'S INKY WOMB!_** "

Susie waited anxiously while Malice watched them with baited breath as...

...Jack politely informed the searchers that the reaper was no harm to any of them, thus making them lose interest in fighting. And the butchered gang took one look at the reaper (more specifically, his scythe.) and fled to cower in a corner, hoping that they weren't being followed.

The voice actress didn't hold back her sigh of relief, nor did Malice hold back muttering about how disappointing the scene became. But she quickly perked up as she saw Henry approach the cowering trio. While the floor might not be stained by searchers' ink, it would be stained by the disgusting butchered gang trio.

* * *

"Jack, can you find me a paintbrush?"

"Uhh... Sure?"

The former lyricist disappeared into the ink to search for the requested item while the reaper went to work on what he did best. Picking his first victim out of the trio, Henry ripped the fishing rod out of the fisher's neck, also removing the head from the line as if unscrewing a light bulb. The other two looked torn between wanting to run away themselves or going to fight the malevolent force making quick work of their friend.

Henry took a syringe out of his pocket and poured some of it's contents onto an old rag. The Fisher _howled_ in absolute agony as the man diligently applied the acetone to the ruined parts of the butchered sailor.

The remaining two looked on in sheer horror, wondering which of them would be next to endure what was to them, the fourth tyrant of the studio's torture. Both of them looking at each other with fearful eyes asking themselves if they should stay and accept their fate as one or flee and mourn their member's sacrifice.

Even Jack looked a little bit grossed out by the scene he returned to, but say anything and handed Henry the paint brush anyway as he wasn't exactly the most confrontational person in the studio.

"Thanks, Buddy."

Henry dipped the paintbrush in some nearby ink and started to redraw the pirate member of the Butcher Gang back to his former glory.

It was not as a task done as quickly as it was said as art restoration takes time, patience, and diligent work. Especially when the art piece in question is alive and squirming, but luckily for both the artist and the artwork, after the initial acetone was applied the process went a lot smoother.

After a while, Henry reattached Barley's head back to his body, the sailor appearing to shake of some kind of headache.

"Ugh... what a helluva nightmares... Ey boss, how'd ya slee-WHAT IN DAVY JONES'S LOCKER?!"

The newly-restored pirate toon looked at his surroundings in confusion and horror while the other two members of his gang looked at their restored teammate with fascination and mild envy. The Piper let out a garbled noise that nobody understood while the Striker began to excitedly chatter and wildly jump up and down while raising his spring-loaded arm in the air like a little kid going 'Me next! Me next!', to which Henry obliged.

But as the butchered gang members have the collective memory of a goldfish, the second Henry applied the acetone-dipped rag to the Striker and he started screaming his newly freed mouth off was the second the Piper went wild trying to clobber Henry to death. Thankfully, Barley and Jack had to grab the disfigured toon and drag him away from the area before he could either kill the man or accidentally make Henry seriously mess the Striker up.

"So... yer Death's Pal, right?" The pirate toon inquired while keeping the Piper's hands firmly behind his back. "Is patchin' folks up befer' they pass a normal part o' da job or are wes gettin' special treatment?"

"Oh! Uh... common mistake, I know what it looks like but he's not actually the grim reaper."

Barley raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Ya want me ta believe that da guy wit' the big flashy scythe an' the long black robe an' the spooky skeletal grin _ain't_ death 'imself? Humoah me then, who is 'e?"

"Just... some animator who used to work here I think." Jack racked his brain for a bit trying to gather up his faded and less-than-faded memories. "his name is Henry."

"Hmm..." Barley took out his pipe and lit it. "So if ya two ain't afters some sinners' souls, then why go through all da trouble o' fixin' folks up like that? Wes ain't exactly the bleedin' heart o' gold kinda people _okay, maybe Edgar is but wes ain't gonna let 'im run off wit' a pair o' scallywags either o' us know._ An' while da boss and I have been humorahin' the idea of goin' clean in life every now an' again, wes doubt we'll go through wit' an' stick wit' it."

"I don't know why he's doing this." Jack shrugged. "I don't think he expects something out of it, I just think he's just doing this because he can. Or to spite somebody, a lot of people who worked here did the weirdest things out of sheer spite..."

"...like sit down wit' a guy who just tried ta kill 'im an' spends time wit' 'im?"

"Yeah... wait. How did you know?"

"I dunno." Barley shrugged and took a long drag from his pipe. "Death ova there seems scary, but also like he's awful tired of goin' ape$#*! an' just wants ta be nice fer a bit."

"I guess in a way we all are." Jack nodded.

\---

As Edgar was arguably the most butchered of the butcher gang, the little spider took the longest time out of the three of them to fix. However, it was also the most satisfying of the three of them to complete.

"There we go." Henry gently set the newly finished spider-toon on the ground with a soft smile. "Now, how do you feel?"

"Kinda like I've been hit wit' a truck..." Edgar stumbled a bit, his body still not fully adjusted from going from two legs to six legs. "But patched back up immidnently? Idunno. The last thing I remember was seein' the twisted toyland terror while the rest of the gang was..."

The youngest member of the butcher gang blinked away his blurry vision and frantically looked around him.

"W-where's Charley and Barley?! They'll be worried sick if they can't find me!"

"Over-" Henry pointed to the room where he saw Barley and Jack dragged off the Piper, only to see Edgar skitter off at top speeds before he could finish. "-there."

The reaper followed Edgar who had let out an ear-splitting fearful screech at the sight of the piper. Said piper had sympathetically tried to pat the spider toon on the head which had only scared the little guy into hiding on top of a bookshelf. Henry wordlessly took the Piper away from the room to work on him next.

"Two down..." He muttered to himself. "Two to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sharing's nice, isn't it?


End file.
